Business
Sheffield breakfast club for parents helps with high cost of food
Lucy AshtonSouth Yorkshire political reporter
BBCDawn Hayes is cooking sausages and hash browns in the kitchen of Shirecliffe Community Centre in Sheffield.
She is helping out at an adult breakfast club where parents and grandparents who have children at the adjoining Meadows nursery can have a hot meal for £1.
“It stops a lot of people going home and being lonely and it makes sure single parents get a meal,” she says.
The club is unusual in catering for adults at a time when many families are struggling with the cost of food – and parents may go without full meals to ensure their children are fed.
Ms Hayes, 47, explains: “I originally started coming to the centre when I brought my daughter to the nursery. When we looked at what people wanted within the community, we decided to set up a breakfast club.
“As parents drop off their children, we decided they needed somewhere to go rather than just going straight home.”
She has been the cook since it began and says it was set up to provide both food and company.
“It stops a lot of people from going home and just being alone. There are a lot of single parents around here and as a single parent, you often don’t get time to eat for yourself as you get up, get the kids ready and give them breakfast.
“We’re a bit of a social activity but we also make sure parents are eating as well.”
Parents can have a breakfast butty, along with hot drinks and cereal. A nearby Tesco store donates tea and coffee but the club does not receive any grants. It relies on occasional community events for fundraising and on the £1 contributions.
Many schools and nurseries now operate breakfast clubs for pupils, often with sponsorship from the major supermarket chains and brands.
The government has also launched an “early adopter” scheme for 750 schools, which will be given funding to offer free breakfast clubs lasting 30 minutes.
Lina, 34, has three children. Her two eldest boys were born during the pandemic so she struggled to meet other parents when playgroups were closed.
“I was feeling so lonely with nobody to speak to, and trying to deal with my two little boys, but the breakfast club gave me chance to build my confidence and make friends.
“The hot meal is a bonus for everyone. When it’s Thursday, I know I’m going to have my coffee and breakfast and it’s like a treat.
“I don’t have the chance to go to cafes because of the cost and also because the kids will be crying, but I know all these people, they are my friends. We are not just a breakfast club, not even a community, we are a family now.”
Jane Clark, 61, is a grandmother now but also enjoys the club.
“I’ve got a lot of time on my hands now and I like having a chat with people, learning stuff from them and maybe them learning stuff from me,” she says, nursing a cup of tea.
“Being around children keeps you young. Happy kids, happy mums, happy grannies!”
Marks & Spencer is to sell its food products in shops in Australia for the first time amid efforts to grow further globally.
The British brand said it has struck a partnership to sell products in Coles supermarket stores.
Bosses have said the group believes there is significant opportunity to grow its wholesale business, targeting new regions globally.
M&S products will sold in Coles stores from Wednesday November 19, with an extended range available for some shoppers online.
The retailer said the deal follows the “success” of its food wholesale partnership with the Target chain in the US.
M&S’s Australian expansion comes after its launched fashion supply agreement with the David Jones department store business in the country earlier this year.
The expansion comes amid renewed focus on international ambitions, having scaled back some of its franchise operations over the past decade, which included store closures in China and France.
Mark Lemming, managing director of international at M&S, said: “With consistent growth in Food in the UK business and strong brand momentum as the UK’s most trusted retailer there is now so much opportunity for us to grow our business globally.
“Wholesale is a relatively new channel for us, but one that provides lots of opportunity to scale, sell and serve our food business to even more customers around the world.”
Anna Croft, chief commercial officer at Coles, said: “We’re excited to join forces with Marks & Spencer to bring their quality food range to Australia, allowing millions of Aussies to savour the very best of British right here at home.”
The federal government’s dues from K-Electric have reached Rs229 billion, following an increase of Rs11 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2025-26.
According to official documents, K-Electric now owes Rs229 billion to the federal government.
The outstanding amount rose by Rs11 billion in June 2025 alone.
Compared to September 2024, the dues are Rs14 billion higher.
By September 2025, K-Electric’s total outstanding amount stood at Rs229 billion.
The documents of the power division showed that the actual outstanding amount stood at Rs42 billion, and Rs187 added as interest.
In June 2025, Rs218 billion was outstanding against K Electric. In September 2024, the outstanding amount was Rs215 billion.
Sources said that K Electric is receiving electricity from the national grid, which falls in the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Last Updated:
Shares of Siemens on Monday surge by over 4.3% to trade at Rs 3,218.10 apiece on the NSE despite a 7% y-o-y decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 485 crore in Q2.
Siemens Share Price.
Siemens Share Price Today: Shares of Siemens on Monday surged by over 4.3% to trade at Rs 3,218.10 apiece on the NSE despite weak Q2 results. The heavy electrical equipment maker has reported a 7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 485 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2025.
On the BSE, the stock traded at Rs 3,220.85 apiece as of 1:10 pm, which is nearly 4.5% higher than the previous close of Rs 3,082.95.
Siemens’ net profit (or profit after tax) had stood at Rs 523 crore in the July-September period a year ago.
However, the company saw its revenue from operations grow 16 per cent to Rs 5,171 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 4,457 crore in the year- ago period.
Siemens MD and CEO Sunil Mathur said, “We delivered a robust performance this quarter, with a surge in revenue, driven by strong performance in our mobility and smart infrastructure businesses while digital Industries volumes were impacted due to a lower reach in the order backlog from the previous year and muted private sector capex.”
He added that the profit was impacted by a one-time gain of Rs 69 crore from the sale of property in Q4 FY 2024. On August 8, 2025, the board approved changing the company’s financial year from October-September to April-March.
The current financial year is changed to October 1, 2024-March 31, 2026 (18 months). Thereafter, the financial year will be April 1 to March 31, every year.
What Brokerages Say
JM Financials in its note said Siemens’ revenue exceeded its estimates by 8%. However, its EBITDA beat was smaller at 5% on demerger-linked costs. PAT beat was a modest 2% on higher tax and lower other income. Order inflows continue to be robust relative to peer ABB India at 10% though missed our estimate by 5%.
“We resume with ADD as we value the stock at similar multiples to ABB at 50x P/E Sep-27 as Digital Industries (DI) margin challenge still persist. We note change on FY end to March end vs Sep earlier makes direct comparison superfluous for FY26E numbers,” JM Financial said.
Motilal Oswal has maintained its ‘Neutral’ stance on the stock, saying it wants to see a more broad-based ramp-up in scale before turning more positive. The firm noted that its current forecasts already bake in margin gains across divisions. It expects the smart infrastructure vertical to continue delivering strong growth, with a gradual pickup likely in the digital industries and mobility businesses as well.
Antique Stock Broking highlighted how Siemens has consistently reshaped its business model, moving away from being a pure industrial products player to becoming a technology-driven company aligned with investment themes across industry, infrastructure and transportation. The brokerage believes Siemens is well-positioned to ride the country’s ongoing capital expenditure cycle.
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h…Read More
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h… Read More
November 17, 2025, 13:18 IST
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