How the falling pound affects you – and who the winners and losers are

Published

3 years ago

September 27, 2022

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Friday’s mini-budget that promised billions in tax cuts and a multi-billion pound energy price cap has seen the value of the pound plummet against foreign currencies.

The new prime minister and her chancellor’s decision to cut various taxes by a combined £45bn, alongside a cap on energy prices that will cost taxpayers £60bn has resulted in a loss of market confidence.

Lenders withdraw mortgage profits; live pound updates

That loss of confidence in the government’s ability to pay back the billions they are spending means the Bank of England is likely to raise interest rates – in a desperate bid to bring down inflation.

This all has an effect on Britain’s day-to-day spending. Here, Sky News looks at who will suffer and who will benefit from the pound’s slump.

Petrol

Fuel is traded in dollars.

This means that a low pound will buy less fuel, forcing prices at UK forecourts to rise.

Drivers will have noticed a recent dip in prices at the pumps – compared with this summer when they approached £2 a litre for diesel.

But the slump in value of the pound will likely wipe out that fall, which was a welcome relief for many.

According to the AA, a pound that equals $1.08 will mean an extra 13.5p per litre of petrol.

That would add around £7.50 to the cost of filling up an average 55-litre car, when factoring in VAT.

An AA spokesman added that had it not been for former Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s decision to cut fuel duty by 5p in March, motorists would have likely seen an even bigger increase in the price per litre – of around 18.5p.

Energy

Gas is also traded in dollars and therefore also suffers from a poor exchange rate.

As with oil, wholesale prices have dropped internationally since the start of the war in Ukraine, but with a weak pound, similarly the UK won’t experience the benefits.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, tells Sky News: “At this stage, this won’t affect bill payers directly, because the energy price cap is set below international energy prices, so we’ll be paying less anyway.

“Instead it will have an impact on how much the guarantee will cost the government.”

The more the price cap costs the government, the less confidence the market will have in the government’s capacity to pay it back, causing the original problem to spiral further.

Food

Any goods imported to the UK from abroad will cost more when the pound is weaker.

According to the government’s most recent food security report, the UK imports around 45% of its food.

This has proven a major problem during the Ukraine war, with grain exports unable to leave the country for several months this year.

Along with the dollar, the pound is also faring badly against the Euro, which will mean European-grown fruit and veg prices will increase.

Produce grown further afield, such as bananas, will also go up.

Not all retailers will pass all of that cost onto their customers, however.

Supermarkets are often the last to increase their prices off the back of rising costs, as they try to remain affordable, and often buy stocks in advance to mitigate sudden market shocks.

But Ms Coles cautions: “Supermarkets have warned that although they are already absorbing a great deal of the increased costs of supply, they have to pass some of it on.”

Tech

Most of our tech gadgets, such as smartphones and tablets, are manufactured abroad.

Apple, for example, is based in California, but uses parts manufactured in China and Taiwan.

Again, a week pound will mean these foreign-made products cost more in the UK.

Apple has already increased the price of its latest iPhone range. The iPhone 13 started at £949 when it launched last year. The iPhone 14 range is retailing at £1,099 – a 16% increase.

Holidays abroad

The most obvious place consumers will experience the slump in the pound is at the bureau de change.

Holidaymakers bound for the US will get particularly less for their money than they used to – but with the pound also down against the Euro, holidays to Europe will also be more expensive.

With the cost of fuel also on the rise, airlines and package holiday providers may also increase their prices to mitigate costs.

Mortgages

A weak pound means inflation – which is already at 10% – getting even higher.

When inflation is high, the Bank of England tries to bring it down by increasing interest rates.

This higher price of borrowing is designed to encourage people to borrow less, spend less, and save more.

Currently forecasts predict interest rates hitting 6% by November, which will mean huge increases in people’s mortgage repayments.

Halifax, the country’s largest mortgage provider, is removing fee-paying mortgages from Wednesday. These allow people to pay a fee in exchange for a lower interest rates.

Virgin Money and Skipton Building Society have withdrawn all their mortgage products until they have more certainty.

The two million people in the UK already on tracker and variable mortgages will see far more of their monthly pay packet spent on repayments.

And those coming to the end of a fixed rate or hoping to buy for the first time will have fewer, more expensive deals to choose from.

“The issue is the fact that fixed rate mortgages don’t just depend on the rate today, they also depend on rate expectation,” Ms Coles explains.

“The dramatic overnight change in market expectations of future rates has ramped up the cost of doing business, and lenders are taking a break to reassess and reprice.”

Pensions

People approaching retirement could suffer from UK bonds – or gilts – being sold off in response to the pound’s fall.

Some investors automatically switch people’s pensions from stocks to government bonds as they get closer to retirement age, which will leave them with a smaller pot in the current climate.

Pensioners living abroad will also suffer notably – as their pensions are paid in pounds but their expenses are in stronger currencies.

UK exporters

British businesses that sell their products and services abroad will benefit from the pound’s slump as foreign buyers look to take advantage of cheaper prices.

This will see the FTSE 100 companies benefit, as much of their money is made overseas, Ms Coles says.

It could also provide much-needed help for smaller UK businesses struggling with the increased costs of Brexit.

Local tourism

More holidaymakers could be drawn to the UK from abroad by the promise of a cheaper holiday.

While Britons get less for their money at the bureau de change, inbound tourists will get more.

For example, a London hotel room that cost $200 (£186) at the start of 2022 now only costs $150.

Britons could also return to the ‘staycation’ trend seen during the COVID pandemic and also help boost the economy by supporting tourism and hospitality businesses at home.

Hedge funds

Hedge funds employ a strategy called ‘short selling’ or ‘shorting’ to take advantage of falling market prices.

It involves borrowing shares in a firm and selling them with a view to buying them back at a profit when prices fall.

Ms Coles says: “Plenty of hedge funds were shorting the pound before the fall – based on the belief that the markets had underestimated how long inflation would stick around for.

“So these paid off when the pound tumbled.”

UK

Southport attack victim’s teachers ‘don’t want her to be forgotten’

Published

1 hour ago

May 24, 2025

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Southport attack victim's teachers 'don't want her to be forgotten'

The teacher of one of the Southport stabbing victims has told Sky News they “don’t want her to be forgotten”, 10 months after the knife attack in which she was murdered.

Seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe was killed along with Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar in an attack by Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July.

Jennifer Sephton, headteacher of Farnborough Road Infant School, will be skydiving to raise funds for the Elsie’s Story charitable trust, which has been set up in memory of the former pupil.

“She’d been with us for four years, throughout her education,” Ms Sephton told Sky News, “and we just want everybody to know Elsie’s spirit.”

Describing Elsie as “such a determined young lady,” Ms Sephton said Elsie had “a real zest for life, and a sparkle in her eye all the time.”

She added that Elsie’s Story, which has been set up by Elsie’s family, is about “continuing that legacy.”

In the aftermath of the July 2024 attack, the gates outside Elsie’s school were lined with flowers, balloons, and cards bearing her name.

Since then, memorial benches and a tree have been planted in the school grounds, providing pupils and staff with a place to “remember and reflect”, Ms Sefton says.

“[Elsie’s death] had such an impact on all our community,” the teacher said, “it’s had an impact on her friends, their siblings, our school as a community and our staff.”

‘We want her name to live on’

Ms Sephton will be joined in the skydive by Adrian Antell, headteacher at the adjoining junior school where Elsie had been due to start.

“Elsie was due to come to us last September,” he told Sky News, “but what we’ve learned about her is that she had a wonderful impact in the infant school, and we don’t want her to be forgotten.

“We want her name to have to live on and to be thought of in a positive way.”

Mr Antell said they continue to support Elsie’s classmates, who joined the new school without her.

“There’s no instruction manual for this,” he explained, “every day is different, and every day is one step at a time.

“So all we can do as a school is to think about individual children and support them in the best way we can.”

UK

Scientists embark on crucial study to save Britain’s bees

Published

4 hours ago

May 24, 2025

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Scientists embark on crucial study to save Britain's bees

Scientists from Kew Gardens are using a new study to track which trees bees prefer to try to stem the decline in our vital pollinators.

Bee populations are falling all over the world due to a mixture of habitat loss, climate change, and the use of pesticides, with a devastating impact on our biodiversity and food production.

But it’s feared that not enough comprehensive, global research is being done to understand the issue or find solutions.

UK becoming a no-fly zone

Researchers based at Wakehurst in Sussex, known as Kew’s “Wild Botanic Garden”, have begun placing advanced bio-acoustics sensors in some of their trees to track which ones bees favour.

They hope it’ll help urban planners know which trees to plant in built-up areas, as a way of combating the worrying decline in bee numbers.

Pollination research lead Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee said: “Nearly 90% of our flowering plants depend on the contribution of pollinators, but in the UK the population of flying insects in the last 20 years has decreased by around 60%.

“It’s really hard to be able to put a figure on the decline of our pollinators, but we do know that globally the number is declining.

“And with that comes crop yield instability and the loss of an essential ecosystem service.”

Their new, non-invasive monitors listen for the buzz created by bees’ wing beats, building up heat maps of the most popular spots.

‘We’re facing twin crises’

Dr Griffiths-Lee said: “If you think about the tree’s footprint, it’s very small, but they’re huge 3D structures covered in pollen and nectar, which are essential resources of pollinators.

“So we really wanted to think about which are the best trees for bees for us to plant, and that can inform landscape planners, urban architects.”

Eight different species of tree were chosen for the study, including horse chestnut and lime trees, with a mixture of native and non-native species.

The scientists have also been gathering DNA from pollen, which also helps them to map which plants and flowers the insects prefer.

Wakehurst’s director, Susan Raikes, calls the 535-acre estate a “living laboratory”, and said the project’s all about searching for nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher, really. We know that we’re facing these twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change,” she added.

“We need to be able to understand, as the climate changes, which plants from warmer climes will be good here in the UK for pollinators in the future.

“If all of our native plants are struggling, then we need to find new sources of pollen – for us all to survive.”

UK

Gary Neville out of Sky Sports’ Premier League finale after ‘unprecedented action’

Published

7 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Gary Neville out of Sky Sports' Premier League finale after 'unprecedented action'

Football pundit Gary Neville is to miss coverage of the Premier League finale on Sunday after being banned by Nottingham Forest, whose owner he recently criticised.

Neville had been due to commentate on Forest’s game against Chelsea on Sky Sports, which is being billed as a Champions League qualification shoot-out with both teams aiming for a top five finish.

But posting on Instagram, the former Manchester United and England defender said the broadcaster told him on Thursday that Forest “would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator”.

“I’ve had no choice but to withdraw from the coverage,” he added.

“I’ve dished out my fair share of criticism and praise in the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action.”

Sky backs Neville’s decision

Neville said while Forest “have every right to choose who they let into their own stadium”, it was “disappointing that a great club […] have been reduced to making such a decision”.

He said “it’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club”.

Sky Sports described Forest’s move as “an unprecedented and unwelcome step” and said it has decided “to present the game from Sky Studios in west London.

“As he was no longer able to commentate from the ground, Gary has chosen to not be part of the coverage on Sunday – a decision fully supported by Sky.”

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Neville has been highly critical of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.

He described Marinakis walking on to the pitch and exchanging words with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo after the club’s draw with Leicester earlier this month as “scandalous”.

Neville urged Nuno to quit the club and his social media post further enraged Marinakis, who had threatened Sky with legal action over comments made by the pundit earlier in the season.

After Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Everton last year, the club issued a statement on social media questioning the integrity of video assistant referee Stuart Atwell after claiming they had been denied three penalties.

Neville’s response to that, comparing Forest’s actions to those of a “mafia gang”, prompted an apology from Sky after they had been contacted by Marinakis’ lawyers.