The retail billionaire Mike Ashley has given the latest indication that his summer shopping spree may be far from over, after he increased his stake in luxury giant Hugo Boss to nearly half.

Ashley’s Frasers Group, which last week bought Harvey Nichols department stores for a reported £40m, increased its shareholding in the German fashion house to 48%, falling just short of taking full control.

In June, the British billionaire made a nearly €2bn (£1.73bn) takeover offer for the luxury group, but its board rejected Frasers’ bid as “inadequate” and urged shareholders not to accept Ashley’s offer.

The new, higher stake comes after 17.6% of shareholders accepted Ashley’s offer of €38 per share. That bid reflected only a 4% premium to Hugo Boss’s shares when it was tabled.

Despite this, Axel Rudolph, an analyst at investing platform IG, said it was “another major step towards gaining control” of the German company. Ashley’s new shareholding puts Frasers “firmly in the driving seat as it looks to increase its influence,” he added.

Ashley bought Harvey Nichols out of administration last week after the upmarket chain, which has 13 stores and 1,200 employees, warned it could run out of money if it did not find new funding. He also launched a bid to snap up the Australian footwear business Accent Group earlier this summer.

A 0.2% rise in UK foodservice inflation for July is the “calm before a potential storm”, experts in the sector have said as they brace for price hikes due to poor harvests.

July’s marginal 0.2% increase feels like the calm before a potential storm. With UK drought conditions actively threatening domestic vegetable yields, and global grain markets reacting to renewed geopolitical stress in the Black Sea, operators cannot afford to be complacent. The transition from summer to autumn will be a critical period for supply availability, making proactive, data-led procurement absolutely essential.

Broadly flat prices in July disguise significant volatility in the foodservice supply chain, and buyers face a very uncertain autumn and winter. While high temperatures can work to the advantage of many hospitality businesses in sales terms, extreme climate issues are likely to have seismic impacts on their operations in the years to come. Mitigating inflation is an urgent priority for venues seeking to retain guests and protect margins.