Miller and railway charity battling against more frequent price hikes

A miller said his business has had to weather unprecedented price increases in recent months and there is no sign of when the struggles might end.

Bertie Matthews' family has run Matthews Cotswold Flour in Oxfordshire for 110 years.

He said companies like his normally see price hikes "once or twice a year", but they have had four so far in 2022.

The war in Ukraine and inflation has meant the price of fuel has increased by 45%, paper by 50% and wheat by 60%.

Mr Matthews, who is the firm's managing director, said: "When the invasion happened [in March] that price [of grain] jumped to £300 a tonne. It's a huge impact on our business.

"We have to raise prices, we have to pass that onto retailers and bakers, which causes more challenges for them as well."

The eighth generation miller, whose firm is based in Shipton-under-Wychwood, added: "I keep thinking things are going to get better and they just don't.

"It's a scary outlook. You have to keep your foot on the gas, you have to make sure you're doing forecasting, but the question is: where does all of this stop?"

The Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway is a volunteer-run charity, which runs engines powered by coal and red diesel between stations along a four-mile track in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

It typically runs four trains a day but is now running three after fuel prices soared and is considering increasing ticket prices.

"Coal here cost £12,000 approximately. Towards the end of last year, that would have been about £7,000 and earlier in the year it would've been about £4,000," Paul Townsend, who volunteers for the charity, said.

On the potential ticket price hike, he said: "It's difficult because of the cost of living crisis many customers are not willing to pay higher prices so it's a balance."

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