Rising food bills to dent UK high street spending, says top thinktank

People will have less to spend on clothing and homeware as effects of sterling slump start to filter through to UK consumers

Retailers will struggle in 2017 as rising food price inflation leaves shoppers with less to spend on discretionary items such as clothing and homeware, according to a leading industry thinktank.

Prices could rise by between 2.5% and 3% next year, led by an expected 2.4% rise in the price of food and groceries, the highest level since 2013, according to the Retail Thinktank, a group backed by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and analysts at advisory firms KPMG, Verdict, Nielsen and Ipsos Retail Performance.

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