Cost of average UK Christmas dinner rises by 6.5%, says Kantar; Ashtead to move listing to US – business live

Boohoo has set a date of 21 January for a shareholder meeting called by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group at which the former Newcastle United boss is aiming to oust the online fashion specialist’s founder and vice chairman Mahmud Kamani.

In a letter to shareholders ahead of a 20 December meeting called by Frasers at which Ashley is aiming to secure a seat on the board for himself and an ally, Boohoo’s directors warned that Ashley’s tactics were an “attempt to destabilise boohoo”.

They warned that Ashley had used similar tactics on Studio Retail Group which went into administration before he bought it for £1.

The cost of an average Christmas dinner has risen as grocery price inflation in the UK picked up in recent weeks.

An average Christmas dinner for four costs £32.57, up 6.5% on last year, largely driven by the price of turkey and Christmas vegetable staples, according to retail analysts Kantar. Wider grocery inflation rose at an annual rate of 2.6% in the four weeks to 1 December, up from 2.3% in the previous month.

Sales at supermarkets and other grocery stores increased by 2.5% in the four weeks to 1 December as shoppers get ready for Christmas.

Sales of assorted sweet biscuits and biscuits for cheese both doubled in November compared with the month before, while 8% of shoppers bought a Christmas pudding.

Grocers’ sales are expected to continue growing, exceeding £13bn over the four weeks of December for the first time ever.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said:

Monday 23 December is likely to be the single busiest day for the supermarkets this year, although there are clear signs that shoppers are already stocking up their cupboards.

Many of us take the chance to treat ourselves at this time of year and retailers are rolling out seasonal product lines to help us celebrate in style. The proportion of spending on premium own label products reached 5% over the latest four weeks and we expect it to climb even higher in December to nearly 7%.

Sales on promotion reached 30% in November, the highest since Christmas last year. McKevitt said:

It’s retailer price cuts, often accessed through loyalty cards, that are really driving this. While multibuy promotions have stayed flat, spending on price cut offers has grown by 14%, worth £355m more than last year. Shoppers are grabbing the chance to spend that little bit more than usual on Christmas specials, and champagne, wine and spirits saw the biggest levels of buying on deal.

Tesco – Britain’s biggest retailer – achieved its highest market share since December 2017 at 28.1%, according to the report.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy.

Another update from embattled Thames Water: the UK’s biggest water company warned this morning that it will run out of cash by the end of March without an emergency debt deal.

It said all its funds may be “exhausted” if it fails to secure court approval for a £3bn financial lifeline. This would mean that it could be nationalised, at least temporarily.

There are two critical court dates, on December 17 and 20 January, to secure approval for the funds, which some creditors have already agreed to lend it. This would give Thames Water enough funds to keep going until next October.

The update on its finances comes at a critical time for the utility, which is struggling under a £19bn debt pile and supplies 16 million customers across London and the Thames Valley.

Chris Weston, chief executive at Thames Water, said:

Today’s news demonstrates further progress to put Thames Water onto a more stable financial footing as we seek a long-term solution to our financial resilience.

Investors have expressed interest in taking a new stake in the business. However, they are still trying to find out what terms they might get from the beleaguered company, the UK government, and water regulator, Ofwat, if they provide billions of pounds of new equity funding.

One bidder is Covalis Capital, a UK infrastructure investor, with advice from French water contractor Suez. It has offered a £1bn upfront injection of cash, with a further £4bn to be raised from breaking up and selling off parts of Thames before listing the remaining operation.

FTSE 100-listed Ashtead Group, the £28bn equipment hire company, said it intends to move its listing to New York from London, in the latest blow to the UK stock market.

The company, which trades under the name Sunbelt Rentals, was founded in England in 1947 and has been part of the London Stock Exchange since 1986.

It embarked on a series of US acquisitions from the early 2000s, and argues that the US is its “natural” home, saying:

Ashtead is substantially a US business, reporting in US dollars, with almost all the group’s operating profit (98% in 2024) derived from North America, which is also the core growth market for the business.

The group’s executive management team and operational headquarters are based in the US and the vast majority of the group’s employees reside in North America.

The company will seek approval from shareholders for a move to a US primary listing at a general meeting, and expects the move will happen over the next 12-18 months. It also warned of a lower annual profit because of a weak commercial construction market in the US.

The planned departure follows similar moves earlier this year by Paddy Power and the Betfair owner Flutter Entertainment.

The Agenda

• 9.30am GMT: Bloomberg Women, Money, Power conference

• 9:45am GMT: UK Treasury committee hearing: FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi and chair Ashley Adler to discuss work of regulator

• 10am GMT: Italian industrial production for October