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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Sarah Butler, Jasper Jolly and Joanna Partridge

Inflation hits small firms: ‘Covid was a walk in the park compared to this’

Cathy Frost, the owner of Loveone, an independent shop in Ipswich
Cathy Frost, the owner of Loveone, an independent shop in Ipswich. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Notifications arrive every day at Loveone, an Ipswich gift shop, heralding price increases of 5% to 10% on products it sells, usually adding a couple of pounds to the sticker price.

“If I don’t get my orders in by a certain date then I will have to pay more,” says Cathy Frost, who has run the shop for 15 years. “I can kind of hold my prices for the moment as I ordered stock six months ago, but if the things I’m ordering now are going to be more expensive, I’m asking: ‘Will people pay more?’”

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