- author, Jill Domigan
- Role, BBC North West Health Correspondent
It’s mid-morning, and business is brisk in the butcher shops at Ellesmere Port Central Market.
N&N Meats is run by husband and wife Bill and Nicky Ferguson who have been in the business for over 30 years.
While trade has remained stable, the past two years have seen people change their orders, says Bill.
“They’re buying cheaper cuts of meat. They’re not buying sirloin steaks and fillet steaks… They’re buying more economically.”
Bill says he had to think creatively — especially when it came to meeting the rising costs his own business was facing.
“It’s kind of a balancing act – trying to raise it a little bit so you don’t lose money but you have to bear some of the cost, otherwise you’ll lose customers.”
Bill is still busy – people always need food – but some other businesses are struggling.
Jo Hopewell has been running Jo’s Soft Furnishings for 30 years. We are the only people in her booth.
“My business is getting worse,” she says.
“The rent is too high, the electricity is too high, a lot of people can’t afford anything. We are trying to survive.”
“limit luxuries”
Average incomes in the UK rose by 6% last year – three times faster than inflation and the consumer price index, which is currently at 2%.
But these numbers do not reflect reality for many.
According to the Office for National Statistics, a quarter of people in the North West of England have an income below 60% of the national average.
They are spending a much higher percentage of their money on essentials – and the prices of those essentials have risen dramatically.
Denise Hadley and her husband Colin enjoy a cup of coffee in the food court at the market. Denise works at an after-school club for a pittance. Colin had a stroke a few years ago and is no longer able to work.
“In the past few years, it has become difficult to pay the bills, and food has become expensive.
“You get less and less for your money every time you go shopping,” she says.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the past two years have seen food prices rise by 25%, almost three times as much as in the entire previous decade (9%).
Denise says she has had to cut back on luxuries. For some, the word luxuries conjures up thoughts of foreign vacations, but for Denise, it means fruit.
“It’s more expensive. We just need to focus on the basics.”
It’s been years since they’ve had a vacation, says Denise: “We never go abroad.”
‘uphill battle’
At some tables along the way, Pauline Woolham enjoys cheese on toast while her son and granddaughter eat plates of chips.
Pauline says she and her husband are now financially secure, but she worries about the younger generation. “It’s an uphill battle. They’re not getting anywhere fast.”
Pauline is particularly concerned about the lack of affordable housing, saying: “Our youngest son – it took them as long as they could to get as high as they could before they could buy their own home.
“You need a deposit of at least £30,000 now for most places.”
But saving for a home becomes difficult when rents rise.
In the past year alone, home prices have risen by an average of 9% in the Northwest. Again, this disproportionately affects those with lower incomes who can’t afford to buy.
A five-minute walk from the market, charity volunteers are packing shopping bags full of the kinds of healthy foods that many can no longer afford – fruit, vegetables and fresh milk.
Tyra Goodwin, 23, started Thrive to Survive with her mother and a friend after her family’s experience living in temporary housing.
The charity helps families in crisis and the numbers are on the rise.
Terra says they have particularly noticed an increase in the number of workers using the service, along with seniors: “We never used to have seniors coming to access this service, and now we are getting more of them.”
Unlike wages, many benefits are tied to average inflation, but Terra points out that most of that money will go to food and rent, which have risen more sharply.
Rachel Williams volunteers for the charity, but like many, she has also used its services in the past.
Rachel uses a wheelchair and gets sick often. She also needs frequent hospital appointments. She says the combination of demands makes it difficult for her to keep her job, so she relies heavily on benefits.
Rachel says she has also cut back on healthy foods to meet her needs. Because of her disability, she has become dependent on her car, but she no longer uses it as much as she used to.
“Before, if it was a birthday or something like that, I could do it (buy a gift). If the washing machine broke down, I could fix it, but now I struggle to even cover the basics,” she says.
The national economy seems to be on the rise, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
For the people I spoke to in Ellesmere Port, life is still difficult and the future is uncertain.
The question is what the next government can do to change this sentiment.