Business

“Food prices have changed a lot, the Ukraine war, the bread basket of Europe was a huge thing for oil costs. There’s the risk of avian flu, all of our chicken is British, that’s something we’ve sort of celebrated, Red Tractor approved, it’s all increasing slowly.”

Oil prices have surged as much as 64% in March – when they reached nearly $120 a barrel – in the biggest monthly gain since 1990 when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait took both countries’ oil off the market, resulting in an energy supply shock, said Nicolas Daher from the Economist Intelligence Unit.

IndiGo controls about two-thirds of the country’s domestic aviation market, so the inconvenience caused by the disruptions was huge. Thousands of people missed important life events, including funerals and their own weddings, and were left scrambling to make alternate arrangements.

But Spencer says his business is being squeezed from every angle – as well as minimum wage, he has had increases in business rates, national insurance, and statutory sick pay. He also expects energy bills to go up because of the war in the Middle East.

One month into the Iran war, US petrol prices are beginning to hurt consumers at the pump. Iran has effectively closed off the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest oil shipping channels, since the US and Israel attacked it on 28 February. And it means the average price of petrol at the pump…