Tea business owner ‘hasn’t felt’ the fall in the inflation ratepublished at 09:52 GMT
09:52 GMT
Mitchell Labiak
Business reporter
If you’re enjoying a cup of tea this morning, you might not have considered all the costs involved in getting that brew into your mug.
Daniel Graham, managing director of Birchall, certainly has. He tells me that running the tea business his great, great grandfather founded in 1872 is much more expensive than it used to be.
“I haven’t seen price increases like this since I’ve been involved in the business going back to 1994,” he says, adding it has been particularly noticeable “over the last three or four years”.
A big reason for this is transport costs. The couriers and trucking firms which Birchall uses are paying their staff more and this added cost is being passed onto his business. In addition, Brexit means Birchall has to pay additional fees to export from the UK, where it is packaged, to the EU.
Though today’s figures show inflation is falling, it’s given him little solace.
“I heard it announced on the news today, but I haven’t felt it,” he says, adding that costs for him have already increased this year. “And we’re only in February,” he says.