HelloFresh hit by sales slump as people lose appetite for meal kits

HelloFresh has reported a sharp decline in sales as the struggling food delivery company battles falling demand after the pandemic-era meal kit boom.The German company was forced to make 900 UK job cuts last year with the closure of a delivery site in Nuneaton, and the demand for meal kits tumbled as revenue fell by more than 11% during 2025.Sales slumped “against various uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment and a deliberate effort to target a smaller yet more profitable number of customers”, it said.HelloFresh and competitors such as Gousto and Mindful Chef experienced rapid growth during the Covid lockdowns when people were told to stay at home, and at one point it was projecting revenues of €10bn (£8.6bn) by 2025

London bars shun Margot Robbie’s gin over shellfish allergen concerns

Margot Robbie said she “couldn’t wait” to see the artisan gin brand she had created stocked in her London local. But the willingness of the capital’s venues to fulfil her dream has been seriously compromised by three words on the side of the bottle – “warning: contains molluscs”.The Wuthering Heights star has had to change the recipe of her spirit after top London bars and restaurants rejected it due to allergen concerns, the Guardian can reveal.The drink, Papa Salt, uses oyster shells as a botanical, which she hoped would evoke the sandy dunes of Australia where she grew up. It means people with a shellfish allergy are advised not to drink it, because though the distilling process of gin removes most shellfish proteins, some can still remain when it is made with oysters

Close Brothers banking group to cut 600 jobs and roll out AI ‘at pace’

The UK banking group Close Brothers is to cut about 600 jobs and roll out the use of AI “at pace” after posting further losses amid a mounting compensation bill for the UK motor finance scandal.The specialist lender said the cuts – almost a quarter of its 2,600-strong workforce – would be made over the next 18 months across its teams in the UK and Ireland.It aims to reduce costs by £25m in the year to the end of September, up from a previous target of £20m, and by another £60m in the next financial year, a year earlier than planned.It said it would make the cuts through outsourcing and offshoring work and reducing office space. “In parallel, we are progressing the deployment of automation and artificial intelligence at pace, providing further opportunity both to reduce costs and enhance customer experience,” the lender added

Chris Bowen declares rush on jerry cans ‘un-Australian’ as he urges end to panic buying of petrol

Chris Bowen has insisted the country’s fuel supply is yet to be affected by the war in the Middle East while criticising a rush to buy jerry cans to fill up with petrol as “un-Australian”.The energy minister made the comments after an emergency meeting with major fuel suppliers and retailers that was convened by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to demand explanations for the recent surge in petrol prices.Australian fuel prices have soared amid a 40% rise in global oil prices in the past fortnight, in response to the Middle East conflict and closure of the strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping channel largely controlled by Iran.The government has said it was concerned some retailers were price gouging and that panic buying has exacerbated the situation. Some regional retailers have also run out of fuel in recent days

IEA to consider release of more oil reserves as Iran war keeps prices high

The world’s energy watchdog will consider releasing further emergency crude stocks into the global market to cool rising oil prices after warning that it will take time for markets to recover from the ongoing crisis in the strait of Hormuz.Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, said its members continued to hold large reserves of emergency oil stocks even after agreeing to the biggest release of government crude in the history of the market, meaning more emergency oil reserves could still be released “as and if needed”.It came as the price of Brent crude rose almost 3% within minutes of the market opening on Monday, to about $106.50 a barrel. It later dipped by about 2%, but was still trading at just above $100 a barrel

UK mortgage rates jump, and petrol prices rise, amid ‘Trumpflation’ worries; Oil price falls as Bessent says US is letting Iran ship its crude – as it happened

Oof! Average UK mortgage rates have jumped this morning.Data provider Moneyfacts has reported that the average 2-year fixed residential mortgage rate has risen to 5.20% today, up from 5.10% on Friday. It was just 4