From laptops and cars to Cadbury and Heinz: the brands accused of exploiting Brexit to ramp up prices

THE owners of some of Britain’s best-known brands are accused of exploiting Brexit to ramp up prices, costing customers millions.

Greedy Unilever tried to hike up its prices for a range of products including Marmite, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and PG Tips by ten per cent, citing the UK’s EU exit.

Today a Sun on Sunday investigation has unearthed an epidemic of price increases in the pipeline from firms ready to blame Brexit and the falling Pound.

Former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has blasted these “Brexit bandits” as firms are already using the impact of the vote to crank up the cost of iPads, Dell laptops and our holiday cash.

And everyday shopping items such as Cadbury chocolate, Majestic wines and Next clothes could increase too.

Business analyst Guy Shone said: “Big companies are treating the British high street as a cash cow ready to be milked. They are using Brexit to make bigger profits.”

Guy, founder of Explain the Market, added: “Companies are using Brexit as an excuse to bump up prices and make bigger profits.

“They say the cost of everything they import has risen so the amount they charge has to change, but it’s just a tactic.

“The moment anything happens like this they raise their prices fast.

“But when the Pound is strong, they don’t pass on the savings to their customers. I think we will see more of this as other companies attempt to use the same technique.”

This week Unilever performed a humiliating U-turn after Tesco refused to accept its demands.

But high street clothing chain Next said last month that it would have to hike prices by five per cent because of the falling Pound.

The currency this week fell to a 31-year low of 1.27 against the US dollar after foreign traders were spooked by Prime Minister Theresa May’s “hard Brexit” plan.

It was also worth 1.10 euros, down from 1.30 before the June 23 referendum.

Unilever claimed it meant it had to pay more for imports, but 75 per cent of its products are UK-made.

Guy Shone said more companies with near monopolies will try to cash in.

He added: “They are not doing anything illegal but to suggest we should feel sorry for them is a step too far.”

He said most companies use a financial technique called “hedging” to offset investments against potential losses.

He said: “They will have strategies to make sure they’re not going to get hit too hard by an issue like the weak Pound. Big companies are not as affected by Brexit as they are claiming to be.”

FOOD & GROCERIES

A LOT OF DOSH FOR OUR NOSH

OTHER household favourites look set to rise in price, including chocolates.

Bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk have shrunk to 42g in recent years while still costing around 60p.

An insider at the firm’s US owner Mondelez said: “Foreign exchange rates have been becoming less favourable. Just look at what’s happening with Unilever.

“We have tried to carry those costs as far as possible but we have a business to run and want to be competitive.

“We have to import cocoa, fruit and nuts — so our costs are higher and we constantly monitor exchange rates.”

There have also been price rises in Heinz products. Jars of some of its baby food have gone up by 59 per cent from £2.39 to £3.81 between June and October, says MySupermarket.com.

The comparison site, which tracks high street prices, also found Heinz’s tinned spaghetti is 21 per cent more expensive at £1.26 instead of £1.04.

A spokesman for the firm said it had made no change to prices since June and blamed the rise on supermarkets.

Italian olive oil maker Filippo Berio looks set to increase its UK prices by 20 per cent.

This would mean a litre of extra virgin olive oil rising from £6.90 to £8.28.

And even the price of a cuppa could go skyward.

Tetley Tea and Yorkshire Tea have revealed they are looking closely at raising prices.

MONEY EXCHANGE

POUNDING FOR HOLIDAY CASH

THE boss of a rip-off money exchange firm lives in a sumptuous villa in Spain.

Mark Horgan’s Moneycorp was giving holidaymakers just €0.88 to the Pound at airport kiosks this week, when the actual rate was €1.10.

His Sotogrande villa is over 3,500 sq ft and features four huge bedrooms and a pool.

Horgan and his wife bought it in 2012 for £550,000.

They also have a multi-million-pound home in Maidenhead, Berks.

Moneycorp charges up to 25 per cent more than elsewhere. Profits are up to £12.6million.

Another firm, International Currency Exchange, was charging €0.96 to the Pound at airports this week.

Helen Saxon, of Money- SavingExpert, said: “It’s disgraceful profiteering. Airport kiosks know you’re a captive customer. Get your travel money before you go.”

CARS

DRIVING COSTS

CAR makers and rental firms have raised prices since June.

One is the French company which manufactures Peugeots and Citroens — around seven per cent of vehicles on UK roads.

The Peugeot 308 compact has gone up 2.8 per cent to £15,930.

A spokesman said: “We have to anticipate currency fluctuations.”

Ford exports 800,000 British-made engines a year. Their cost has gone up by 1.5 per cent with the US firm blaming the Pound.

Honda, which makes 600 cars a day in its plant in Swindon, increased prices by 0.9 per cent within weeks of Brexit.

Fellow Japanese firm Suzuki hiked them by two per cent, although neither blamed the Pound’s slump.

Vauxhall raised prices 2.5 per cent on October 1, making the Astra £470 more expensive.

Avis and Budget, who hire cars to 7,500 Brits a day on the continent, brought in a “Brexit tax” after the vote, raking in £2million.

The fee was later scrapped amid customers’ protests.

ALCOHOL

HIT THE BOTTLE

THE Brexit vote could leave wine lovers with a hangover.

Brits drink 354million litres of EU-produced wine each year and the cost of a bottle will soar if current trends continue.

Majestic, with more than 200 UK stores, has seen shares fall more than a quarter since April.

Boss Rowan Gormley said: “If the Pound remains down, at some point wine prices will have to go up to reflect that.”

If Majestic brought in rumoured five per cent rises, a bottle of Trebuchet Chardonnay 2015, costing £7.99, will go up to £8.39.

Fridges to store booze could also cost more. Nick Lawlor, of kitchen appliance firm Valpys, expects prices to go up ten per cent due to rising suppliers’ costs.

He said: “The Pound has weakened so much that we are looking at an increase on larger kitchen appliances.”

A high-end freezer could go up by £100.

TECHNOLOGY

GADGETS FANS FEEL THE BYTE

PHONES, laptops and tablets also face a hike.

US-based Dell, which makes around 15 per cent of computers sold in the UK, last month bumped prices by ten per cent to reflect the Pound’s plunge.

Its Inspiron 15in laptop was £341 before the June vote but now costs £379.

A spokesman said: “Our components are priced in US dollars and its strengthening versus sterling will have a direct impact.”

Apple raised prices last month too. The iPad Pro 32GB 9.7in model went up from £499 on June 21 to £549 last week.

The 12.9in model rose from £679 to £729. Yet the cost of Apple products in the US fell in the same period.

The firm said: “We base prices internationally on exchange rates, local import laws, business practices, taxes and the cost of doing business.”

US firm Hewlett Packard also blamed the Pound-to-dollar rate for its price hike.

Chinese firm OnePlus put up prices by 6.5 per cent in July.

Its OnePlus3 phone, an iPhone rival, went up from £309 to £329 in the UK.

A spokesman said: “Currency markets since the Brexit vote have forced us to re-evaluate pricing.”

The new Vive virtual reality headset by Taiwanese firm HTC rose £689 to £759, or ten per cent, last month due to currency rates.