Torch, Radio and Tinned Food Sales Jump After UK Emergency Preparation Advice

Sales of tinned food, bottled water, wind-up radios and torches have climbed sharply after the UK government urged households to prepare for emergencies. Retailers say the jump is linked to items people might need during extreme weather or a cyber-attack.

The Be Ready campaign was launched last week and asks households to build up enough supplies to last 72 hours. Several businesses reported a rapid response from shoppers.

The specialist technology retailer Maplin said torch sales almost quadrupled, while power banks and radios doubled. One brand of emergency wind-up radio sold out on Friday. Sales of home security cameras rose 130%. Maplin said the figures could have been higher, but stock was low, particularly for power banks, after a summer of heatwaves and the fallout from the Iran war.

Ollie Marshall, Maplin's managing director, said that within hours of the announcement people "reach[ed] for the basics", naming a torch, a wind-up radio and a power bank. He described them as simple, affordable products that keep a household connected and informed during a power cut, and said it was encouraging to see people taking the advice seriously.

In the grocery sector, Iceland said sales of tinned products were up 40% over the weekend, with strong demand for bottled water too. A spokesperson said consumers had clearly listened to the government's message and that supplies remained healthy. Ocado said demand for some products had risen and that it would keep working with suppliers so customers could gradually add items to their orders.

Not every supermarket saw a change. Several major chains reported no material shift in demand for tinned goods, saying cooler, stormy weather was more likely to affect sales of soups and beans. Jim Bligh, food policy director at the British Retail Consortium, said some retailers had seen a small uptick for certain products, but food availability remained strong and shops were well stocked with all essentials.

Specialist outdoor and "prepper" sites saw the biggest relative surge. Zaid Al-Mufti, founder of the survival kit seller EvaQ8, said the company sold out of items including one make of wind-up radio and water purification tablets over the weekend. It sold about 300 radios, compared with a usual 15. Long-life dried food was also in high demand, though he did not expect that to last. "History has shown us people's attention span doesn't last long," he said, adding that demand had held up only during Covid and after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Josh Pringle, co-founder of the online store Sgt Prepper, said business was 10 to 15 times busier than normal last weekend, especially for wind-up radios and long-life food, including tins that last 25 years. "I have never seen it like this before," he said. The site's larger wind-up radio sold out, and he was searching for other brands because his supplier lacked stock.

Overall, the number of people buying radios and water purification tablets remains relatively low, while many more households have added tins of food to their weekly shop. Industry insiders said supermarkets were well prepared for a rise in food and drink sales. They cautioned against reading too much into social media photos of empty shelves and queues, noting that other brands of the same product are likely to be available just out of shot.