A decline in Santa’s salary, rising cost of turkeys and fewer presents under the tree: Is this the bleakest Christmas on record?
Santa Claus is coming to town – well, some of them are.
Because this year Santa could found in the job centre rather than a grotto, with 15% fewer jobs for the guy in red being advertised.
And in further bad news, Santa’s salary is also rising less than average, according to job website Indeed.com. So while the average wage has gone up 7%, the most famous inhabitant of the North Pole has seen his rise by just 4%.
And he is not alone in feeling the squeeze – it doesn’t matter whether you are on the naughty or nice list – this year is costing more for everyone.
Sky News investigates the state of the great British Christmas as the cost of living crisis hits harder than ever.
Santa Rob and Donna have set up a grotto at their animal park
A stand-in Santa
Competition is fierce for Santa roles, says Jack Kennedy – a senior economist at Indeed.com, with searches for this festive work reaching a six-year high.
“Lots of candidates are chasing fewer seasonal jobs this year,” he adds, attributing it to “cost of living pressures and caution among retail employers”.
Santa Rob – who for the rest of the year runs an animal rescue centre as Robert Baxter alongside his partner Donna Rose – found himself forced to don the big red coat and beard after he was unable to afford to pay a performer for his grotto.
“It’s my genuine calling in life,” he jokes. They have tried to keep costs low to enable lower-income families to visit.
Donna and Rob
Their business, Get To Know Animals, in Epping, houses 400 animals, many of which are exotic and require multiple heat lamps and specialist food. “The energy costs are absolutely extortionate,” says Donna.
“We struggled to get through the day and then we had the additional cost of building the grotto, but it just means so much to us that people who can’t afford it could come and meet Santa as well.”
Donna grows teary as she talks about the future of the company, which has suffered from a drop in donations and a decline in footfall: “We are not sure if we are going to make the new year.”
Donna with Goose the skunk
Turkeys are growing – and so is the cost
For Jonathan Smith, Christmas preparations start in the summer.
The second-generation farmer welcomes the 4,000-strong flock of day-old chicks to Great Garnett’s farm in Essex at the beginning of June and starts fattening them up for Christmas.
Five years ago, they would have produced around 8,000 turkeys in December, but a decline in foreign labour due to Brexit and the expensive costs of visas has forced the farm to dramatically reduce numbers.
Jonathan is chair of the National Farmers’ Union’s turkey group and says fattening them up is a lengthy process, fraught with the worry of a bird-flu outbreak at any moment – and the cost of living crisis has increased tensions.
Jonathan Smith, of Great Garnett’s farm
Because the cost of producing a 5.5kg (21lb) turkey (which is the weight they sell the most of and would feed about eight to ten people) has gone up by 21% in the last year.
Jonathan’s food bill, across the farm, used to average between £12,000 and 15,000 a month. It now stands at £30,000 due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine disrupting grain supplies around Europe.
Read more: How much more expensive is Christmas since inflation surged?
His energy contract, which six years ago was £3,000, in December 2022 reached £20,000 – something he expects to see again this year. And even though these higher prices may be being passed on to shoppers it isn’t dampening their demand for the festive bird.
“Turkeys are just a lot more expensive than they were,” he says. “But we aren’t seeing that reflected in sales – people just accept it and want it for their Christmas lunch.
“They want a special turkey and a special turkey is what we produce.”
But the farm has struggled with the rising cost of living
The cost of Christmas
However, the resilience of the turkey trade is not reflected elsewhere. Brits are predicted to buy fewer and cheaper Christmas presents this year.
One forecast by World Remit, the international money transfer firm, suggests that Brits will spend 10% less on Christmas this year. But even with everyone cutting back, WorldRemit says it is expected to cost 23% of the average monthly income.
It is particularly bad for households with children, with one in three struggling to afford a family festive celebration, according to debt charity StepChange.
Dad-of-nine Derrick, 34, says he has delayed paying some bills in a bid to make a magical Christmas for his family, and he and his wife have stopped heating their four-bedroom flat.
The DadsHouse team
“I know it’ll be a problem in January, but I am trying not to think about it,” the stay-at-home dad says. With children ranging from 18 to one still unborn, providing for them is no small task.
“Things have always been tight, but it’s definitely getting worse.”
Derrick is supported by DadsHouse, a charity that supports dads in London – although it was founded to help single dads, they welcome anyone in.
In their West London centre, six days before Christmas, a small team of dedicated volunteers are gathered together cooking lunch. Turkey is served alongside lentil soup and salad, while one young boy is given a plate of pasta. Tinsel and fairy lights adorn the ceiling and racks are filled with cans of soup – a foodbank for those who need it.
Billy McGranaghan founded the charity after raising his son alone but the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn has seen demand soar. What started as a way to help dads bond has expanded into a vibrant community hub, with a foodbank, home-cooked meals, homework clubs and guitar lessons.
DadsHouse also runs a Family Law Clinic, and Ceri Parker-Carruthers, the lawyer who manages it, says they are seeing increased family breakdowns inflicted by the economic crisis.
Billy receives up to 20 phone calls a day from people reaching out for help from him and his small team of dedicated volunteers.
Yet, despite the growing desperation of those around him, anyone who walks through their door is greeted with a cheery shout of ‘hello’ from the 60-year-old Scotsman. He is warm and friendly, remembering everyone’s names as he moves around the room, offering them coffee, tea, more turkey, more gravy, a hamper to take home.
Billy grows emotional as he talks about those the charity has helped this year.
“The increase we have seen is unbelievable,” he says. “But when they are here, we want to give them a chance to forget about the outside world for a bit.”
Billy McGranaghan and Patsy
Patsy, 68, doesn’t fit the label of ‘single dad’, but she is welcomed to the Christmas meal and sent away with a hamper of goods, the same as anyone else.
And like everyone else, she’s feeling the squeeze this year. “I’ve had to ask my family to chip in for Christmas dinner, it’s too expensive now,” she says.
A Christmas lifeline – or a road to more debt?
The continued popularity of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes risks tipping millions of people into debt this Christmas. More than a quarter of Brits will use them to help with Christmas shopping. In some instances, it is almost as common as going into an overdraft – according to Citizen’s Advice.
The charity, who surveyed 2,132 people, has said it is braced to provide debt support in the new year, with some 28% of consumers (equivalent to 15.1 million people) planning to use the unregulated form of credit this December. This rises to 56% of parents with primary-school-aged children.
Citizens Advice, MoneySavingExpert and Which? recently teamed up to urge the Government to protect BNPL users after its commitment to regulating the industry in 2021 appeared to have stalled.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said many users do not realise they are taking on debt.
This is because BNPL lending does not require any affordability checks, unlike other credit options.
The charity found 21% of BNPL users have missed or made a late BNPL payment in the last 12 months, with one in 10 of this group visited by an enforcement agent or bailiff as a result.
‘There will be fewer presents – but more love’
Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelters is in its 15th year of providing winter shelter and food for those who are homeless in Waltham Forest and has seen the number of people seeking its help soaring in the last year.
Jessica* spent much of her 20s without a home but, after reaching “breaking point”, found herself at the shelter and is now a volunteer.
“I never could have known that in a year, my life would have done a complete 180,” she says. “I have gone from living somewhere to becoming homeless, to now being part of a community where I can give back.”
This small local shelter has 28 active cases, compared to 10 this time last year.
“I think this is potentially one of the worst Christmases we’ve had,” says David Hoskins, the group’s charity director.
“We simply don’t have enough beds for all of those people who are rough sleeping.”
And this is being echoed across the UK, as research from the charity Crisis revealed nearly a quarter of a million households are spending night after night couch surfing or in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Beth from Newport found herself in a vicious cycle with housing costs after her rent began creeping up.
The single mum of two is studying at university in a bid to create a better life for her children after fleeing an abusive relationship.
“I want to be a good tenant, but being a good mum comes first, and it’s been years since paying the rent in full and on time – without having to think about it – was normal,” she said.
She now lives in fear of her energy being shut off, and it means for her children, aged 12 and 14, there is little chance of expensive gifts under the Christmas tree.
“My children have been understanding and told me they don’t need anything,” she says. “The guilt attached to wanting to and not being able to is the worst feeling of all.”
She said she takes comfort in knowing it’s not just her.
“Of all my Christmases, this is the bleakest so far, but there is comfort in knowing I am not the only one feeling that,” she says.
“I am very blessed to have my children with me on my Christmas morning, being in a house and being able to put the kettle on – that’s a privilege compared to some.
“It’s going to be full of love – less presents, but more love.”
* Names have been changed
A 14-year-old boy has died and a 13-year-old boy is in a critical condition after getting into difficulty in the River Tyne.
Emergency teams launched a large rescue operation yesterday afternoon after receiving reports two boys had got into trouble in the water near Ovingham, Northumberland.
One of the boys, aged 13, was rescued from the river and taken to hospital, where he remains “in a critical condition”, Northumbria Police said in a statement on Sunday morning.
Ovingham Bridge on the River Tyne connects Ovingham with Prudhoe. Pic: Google Street View
Police cordon set up near Prudhoe, across the River Tyne from Ovingham
A huge search, which involved the police, ambulance, fire and mountain rescue services, then continued as crews raced to find the second boy.
“Sadly, the 14-year-old’s body was later found in the water and he was pronounced dead at the scene,” police said.
A police cordon was set up across a footpath near Prudhoe, across the River Tyne from Ovingham
Chief Superintendent Helena Barron, of Northumbria Police, said it was an “absolutely tragic incident”.
She added: “Our thoughts are with the families of both boys at this difficult time as we continue to support them.
“A number of agencies were involved in the incident and their support was hugely appreciated.
“It is with great sadness that we could not provide a more positive update.”
Police said the parents of both boys are being supported by specially-trained officers.
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sky News that Britain is ready for a change of government after scolding the Conservatives over their handling of the economy and immigration after Brexit.
While insisting his petrochemicals conglomerate INEOS is apolitical, Sir Jim backed Brexit and spent last weekend with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Manchester United – the football club he now runs as minority owner.
“I’m sure Keir will do a very good job at running the country – I have no questions about that,” Sir Jim said in an exclusive interview.
“There’s no question that the Conservatives have had a good run,” he added. “I think most of the country probably feels it’s time for a change. And I sort of get that, really.”
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Man Utd ‘is a very big challenge’
Sir Jim was a prominent backer of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum but now has issues with how Brexit was delivered by Tory prime ministers.
“Brexit sort of unfortunately didn’t turn out as people anticipated because… Brexit was largely about immigration,” Sir Jim said.
“That was the biggest component of that vote. People were getting fed up with the influx of the city of Southampton coming in every year. I think last year it was two times Southampton.
“I mean, no small island like the UK could cope with vast numbers of people coming into the UK.
“I mean, it just overburdens the National Health Service, the traffic service, the police, everybody.
“The country was designed for 55 or 60 million people and we’ve got 70 million people and all the services break down as a consequence.
“That’s what Brexit was all about and nobody’s implemented that. They just keep talking about it. But nothing’s been done, which is why I think we’ll finish up with the change of government.”
Read more:
Sir Jim’s mission to succeed at ‘the one challenge the UK has never brought home’
UK needs to get ‘sharper on the business front’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated an election is due this year but Monaco-based Sir Jim is unimpressed by the Conservatives’ handling of the economy.
“The UK does need to get a bit sharper on the business front,” he said. “I think the biggest objective for the government is to create growth in the economy.
“There’s two parts of the economy, there’s the services side of the economy and there’s the manufacturing side. And the manufacturing, unfortunately, has been sliding away now for the last 25 years.
“We were very similar in scale to Germany probably 25 years ago.
“But today we’re just a fraction of where Germany is and I think that isn’t healthy for the British economy… particularly when you think the north of England is very manufacturing based, and that talks to things like energy competitiveness, it talks to things like, why do you put an immensely high tax on the North Sea?
Analysis: Labour on ‘smoked salmon offensive’ – and it’s working
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments carry weight because of who he is.
A billionaire business boss and Brexit backer who employs thousands of people should be naturally allied to the Tories.
Instead he seems to be calling time on them. Symbolically, that matters.
But what’s more important is that this mirrors what appears to be going on in business more broadly.
Labour has made a concerted effort to woo the private sector, with senior figures embarking on a “smoked salmon offensive” of breakfast meetings with top executives. And it’s working.
Commerce events held by Labour now pack out as firms pick up on the electoral direction of travel. Tensions still exist though.
Labour plans for a strengthening of workers’ rights and union power unnerve some.
Then there’s the persistent worry about the wider instincts of the party towards the commercial sector.
Or to put it another way, there are plenty of people in Labour that think someone like Sir Jim – a billionaire petro-chemical boss based in tax-free Monaco – is not part of the solution, but part of the problem.
“That just disincentivises people from finding hydrocarbons in the North Sea, in energy.
“And what we need is competitive energy. So I mean, in America, in the energy world, in the oil and gas world, they just apply a corporation tax to the oil and gas companies, which is about 30%. And in the UK we’ve got this tax of 75% because we want to kill off the oil and gas companies.
“But if we don’t have competitive energy, we’re not going to have a healthy manufacturing industry. And that just makes no sense to me at all. No.”
‘We’re apolitical’
Asked about INEOS donating to Labour, Sir Jim replied: “We’re apolitical, INEOS.
“We just want a successful manufacturing sector in the UK and we’ve talked to the government about that. It’s pretty clear about our views.”
Sir Jim was keener to talk about the economy and politics than his role at struggling Manchester United, which he bought a 27.7% stake in from the American Glazer family in February – giving him an even higher business profile.
Old Trafford stadium in Manchester. Pic: AP
Push for stadium of the North
He is continuing to push for public funds to regenerate Old Trafford and the surrounding areas despite no apparent political support being forthcoming. Sir Keir was hosted at the stadium for a Premier League match last weekend just as heavy rain exposed the fragility of the ageing venue.
“There’s a very good case, in my view, for having a stadium of the North, which would serve the northern part of the country in that arena of football,” Sir Jim said. “If you look at the number of Champions League the North West has won, it’s 10. London has won two.
“And yet everybody from the North has to get down to London to watch a big football match. And there should be one [a large stadium] in the North, in my view.
“But it’s also important for the southern side of Manchester, you know, to regenerate.
“It’s the sort of second capital of the country where the Industrial Revolution began.
“But if you have a regeneration project, you need a nucleus or a regeneration project and having that world-class stadium there, I think would provide the impetus to regenerate that region.”
UK
Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice denies claims of ‘abusive or threatening behaviour’ on show
Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice has rejected allegations that he displayed “abusive or threatening behaviour” while working as a professional dancer on the show.
The 33-year-old Italian dancer said he was “surprised” amid reports the BBC is looking into complaints about his conduct.
A legal firm acting on behalf of the complainants said the broadcaster is “evidence gathering” – but the BBC has not confirmed that any probe has been launched.
In the statement shared on Instagram, Pernice wrote: “To my dear fans, you will be as surprised as I am that allegations have been made about my dance teaching methods in the media this week.
“Of course, I reject any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour, and I look forward to clearing my name.”
He added: “Those who have followed my journey on Strictly Come Dancing over the last decade will know that I am passionate and competitive.
“No one is more ambitious for my dance partners than me.
“I have always striven to help them be the very best dancers they can be.
“This has always come from a place of love and wanting to win – for me and my dance partners.”
Pernice signed off the message by writing: “Thank you all once again for your continued love and support! Giovanni.”
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A statement from law firm Carter-Ruck to the PA news agency said: “There have been numerous serious complaints made to the BBC who are now in the process of evidence gathering.
“As it is still an ongoing matter no further comment can be made at this stage.”
The Sun, which first reported suggestions that an investigation was underway, also claimed Pernice had quit the show.
Neither the BBC nor Pernice has confirmed his departure.
Sicily-born Pernice has been on the BBC One celebrity dancing show since 2015.
In 2021, he lifted the Strictly glitterball trophy for the first time alongside EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis, who was the first deaf contestant to win. He had appeared in three show finals previously.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He also holds the Guinness World Record for most jive kick and flicks in 30 seconds, which he achieved on the BBC’s Strictly It Takes Two show in 2016.
The BBC was approached by Sky News but declined to comment.
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