Including future talent, youth employment, work experience, food-system health, food inflation, supply-chain costs, the UK labour market, wages, public debt, and the Budget.
Food industry urged to unlock opportunities for young people
The food industry has a major opportunity to build its future workforce by opening routes into work for nearly one million young people not in education, employment, or training.
At IGD’s Future of the UK Food System 2026 conference, DWP minister Andrew Western said the sector’s scale and nationwide reach could support growth in every postcode as net migration falls and the population ages.
New research reinforces the opportunity: 69% of 16- to 18-year-olds had applied for work experience or temporary work, yet 50% had applied for a job without progressing. Nearly 100 companies are already involved in Feeding Britain’s Future.
Read Future talent: turning work experience into opportunity to discover practical steps employers can take.
Health action moves centre stage
At IGD’s Future of the UK Food System conference on 21 October, leaders agreed the health diagnosis is clear. The focus now is delivery.
Read our key health takeaways from the day, including IGD’s view on what needs to happen next.
And the conversation doesn’t end with the conference. Two free webinars next week will explore the research behind some of the issues raised on the day.
27 October: Food insecurity, obesity and the supermarket: What does real life tell us?
29 October: From data to dinner: Where can the food system make the biggest difference?
Food inflation stable, but wider price pressures rise
Food and non-alcoholic drink inflation remained at 1.3% in September for the third consecutive month. However, overall CPI inflation increased from 3.1% in August to 3.5%, with transport, particularly motor fuels, making the largest upward contribution. The divergence offers some short-term relief on grocery prices, but rising fuel and other input costs continue to add pressure across household budgets and food supply chains.
IGD opinion
Stable food inflation offers limited comfort while cost pressures build. Retailers appear to be absorbing higher costs ahead of Christmas, squeezing margins, while 79% of shoppers expect food prices to rise over the next year. With headline inflation above target, pressure on household finances and borrowing costs may persist; the industry will look to the Budget for support and stronger food-system resilience.
Producer prices rising sharply
UK manufacturers are facing a renewed cost squeeze, with input prices rising much faster than factory-gate prices. ONS Producer Prices data shows that costs faced by UK businesses are still rising fast. The study is the business counterpart to the Consumer Price Inflation study.
Factory input prices were up 8.3% year-on-year in September 2026, accelerating from the previous month. Energy was a major driver of higher costs.
Meanwhile, factory output prices were up 4.6%. The gap suggests manufacturers are absorbing some of the increase, compressing margins, while higher factory-gate prices point to further inflationary pressure.
IGD opinion
Food-manufacturing input and output prices are negative for now, but this conflicts with IGD’s industry conversations, which continue to highlight rising energy, materials, and labour costs, suggesting official data may not yet reflect the pressures businesses face.
Falling vacancies signal a tougher jobs market
Headline labour-market indicators remain broadly stable: around 34.5 million people had a job in June 2026, unemployment edged down to 4.7%, redundancies were stable and economic inactivity fell marginally. However, demand is weakening. Vacancies fell to 691,000, down from 728,000 a year earlier and below pre-pandemic levels.
Government signals shift from benefits to opportunity for young people
Nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment, or training, an “economic catastrophe and a moral failure”, according to the Prime Minister. The government plans to reset support around young people’s ambitions and the help they need to secure work, rather than treating benefits as the starting point.
Every young person will be guaranteed access to a high-quality technical pathway, including work placements, apprenticeships and the skills and experience needed to secure a good job. In return, those able to work will be expected to take up the opportunities available.
Sector jobs plans will begin with professional services, technology, defence, and construction.
The final Milburn Review of young people and work will be published in the weeks after the Budget.
IGD opinion
Moving more young adults into work would strengthen the UK’s productive capacity and public finances. Through Feeding Britain’s Future, IGD and food-system businesses are piloting new approaches to school-based work experience, with nearly 100 companies supporting the ambition to reach every UK secondary school by 2030. Find out how your business can get involved.
Childhood postcode lottery shapes young people’s life chances
Where a child grows up can sharply shape their chances in life. The Children’s Commissioner’s Childhood Lottery report, published on 19 October 2026, scored local authorities on 162 measures of children’s lives.
The disparities are stark. Child poverty ranged from 10.6% in Richmond upon Thames to 50.3% in Tower Hamlets, while four authorities reported zero youth services spending. This was also reflected in the share of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training, which ranged from 0.3% in Enfield to 7.1% in Derby and was higher where post-16 provision is weaker.
The Commissioner calls for a Children’s Emergency Fund, arguing that good growth in every postcode needs good childhoods in every postcode. Read the full report.
Real wage gains narrow as inflation catches up
ONS data shows that average weekly wages in August 2026 were £757, up 3.1% year-on-year. Annual inflation that month (all items CPI) was also 3.1%, so the spending power of an average worker was unchanged. Average pay growth in the public sector continued to outpace the private sector.
IGD opinion
Pay growth has slowed since early 2025 and its margin over inflation has narrowed, leaving workers with little improvement in spending power. A further energy-driven increase in inflation could erase these modest gains and renew pressure on household budgets.
National debt exceeds £3tn for the first time
Provisional ONS data shows that UK public sector net debt exceeded £3 trillion for the first time in September 2026, reaching £3.005 trillion. Debt was equivalent to 94.0% of GDP, 0.7 percentage points lower than a year earlier. However, September borrowing reached £24.5 billion, £1.9 billion above the OBR forecast, while debt interest was also higher than expected, adding to pressure ahead of the Budget.
IGD opinion
Rising public debt is not unique to the UK - it can be seen in other advanced economies. However, the speed that UK debt has grown is very startling.
Debt first exceeded £2tn in June 2020, but only another six years to move to £3tn. This may explain why UK bond rates have risen - investors are concerned.
Ahead of the Budget, the Chancellor must reassure investors that debt is under control while balancing pressure for spending and business support.