£90 for Christmas tree in the great festive squeeze
CHRISTMAS trees are set to rocket in price this festive season – and supplies may even run out.
The popular imported Danish Nordmann fir could cost as much as £90 for an 8ft tree because of the weak pound, up by £10 on last year.
Across Europe there is a shortage of suitable trees.
And the supply squeeze means stocks are likely to run out well before Christmas Eve.
British-grown Christmas trees will be up by between five and 10 per cent because of supply shortages.
And the pound’s slide against the euro means growers in Britain can now make more money selling on the Continent than they can by keeping trees back for the home market.
Kevin Abbotts, of the Croxted Road Garden Centre in Tulse Hill, south London, said: “It is all against us at the moment – transport, the euro and a shortage of trees.”