THIS WEEK'S NEWS

FURY OVER SUNDAY TRADING LAWS SUSPENSION GROWS

THE CONVENIENCE RETAILING INDUSTRY UNITES TO FIGHTPROPOSED SUSPENSION OF SUNDAY TRADING LAWS.

Convenience retailers from all corners of the industry have united in voicing their opposition to a suspension of the Sunday Trading Laws that currently prevent supermarkets from opening for more than six hours on Sundays.

The government is reportedly reviewing Sunday trading restrictions on large stores in England and Wales as part of a plan to kick-start the economy after lockdown.

Independent retailer and NFRN National President Stuart Reddish urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to scrap his plans: “If you value us don’t give Sundays to the supermarkets.”

Speaking from his store, Mr Reddish explained how “people want their local stores to thrive, not to be overwhelmed by the supermarkets”.

“Allowing supermarkets to open for longer than the allotted six hours ‘would not increase business’, Reddish said. “It will just move it around, costing jobs, threatening businesses and damaging the high street.”

RETAILERS FIGHT CLOSURE OF COVID-19 GRANT SCHEME

Retailers in Scotland are urging the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fiona Hyslop, to reconsider last week’s decision to close the Covid-19 Small Business Grant Schemes for new applications on 10 July.

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation wrote to Hyslop emphasising the importance of the continued availability of these business support grants for retailers.

SGF boss Pete Cheema said: “Convenience retailers are working extended hours, seven days a week, in order to play their part in ensuring a consistent supply of essential groceries and to continue to provide vital services to our communities though Covid-19. Given these pressures many of them will simply not have had the time yet to apply for these vital business support grants.”

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT U-TURN ON FOOD PROMOTIONS BAN WELCOMED

RETAILERS IN SCOTLAND HAVE WELCOMED THE ANNOUNCEMENTTHAT THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT HAS CANCELLED PLANS FORRESTRICTIONS ON IN-STORE PROMOTIONS ON FOODS DEEMED TOBE HIGH IN FATS, SUGAR AND SALT.

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation has warmly welcomed this week’s announcement by the Scottish government that it has cancelled plans to bring forward legislation on restricting in-store promotions of foods deemed be high in fats, salt and sugar. It is likely that the Bill would also have placed restrictions on where products could be positioned within a store.

Taken together these measures would have had a significant impact on convenience retailers in Scotland. At the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, SGF wrote directly to the First Minister and key Cabinet Secretaries urging them not to bring forward any legislation which would adversely affect the convenience industry. SGF executive Pete Cheema said: “We are delighted that that the Scottish government has listened to our concerns and taken this very pragmatic approach to this legislation. These are unprecedented times. Our industry will need time and support to recover from the Covid-19 crisis and it would have been ill-advised to enact this legislation which would have been costly, disruptive and ineffective.”

AMAZON SET FOR ‘ULTRA-FAST’ GROCERY DELIVERY IN 2021

Amazon is gearing up to launch a new ‘Ultra-Fast Fresh’ delivery service to bring rapid grocery deliver to 40% of UK households by next year. The online giant will merge its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service with its superfast delivery arm Prime Now in the UK, retrofitting nine warehouses to deliver fresh produce in hours.

The company is already understood to have met with several suppliers to plan the project. The initiative would see Amazon Fresh offered free to Amazon Prime subscribers, rather than the current model where Prime members must pay an extra £3.99 a month to access Fresh or pay an individual delivery charge of £2.99.

GREGGS RE-OPENS

Greggs will reopen around 800shops to takeaway customerstomorrow following a trialprogramme in a small numberof shops. The stores alreadyopen have been used to testa range of Covid-19 safetymeasures.

WAITROSE DELIVERS

Waitrose has reached a newmilestone of fulfilling 150,000online orders in a week andthe supermarket is also adding150 new delivery vans to allowto it grow its delivery armssignificantly.

ONLINE DRIVES GROWTH

UK retail sales last monthincreased 7.9% on a like-forlikebasis from May 2019,according to the latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.May’s like-for-like figurewas calculated excludingtemporarily closed stores butincluding Online sales. Thefigure is primarily driven bya lockdown-induced surgein online shopping. Salesdecreased by 5.9% in Mayon a Total basis, against adecrease of 1.9% in May 2019.

SUGRO GROWS

Member-owned buying andmarketing group Sugro UK hasbolstered its membership bywelcoming three new membersto the Sugro Family: UKFine Food, E-Natural Limitedand Nosh London. The newmembers have added a further£9m to the group’s existingturnover.

POUNDSTRETCHER CLOSURES

Poundstretcher has launched aCompany Voluntary Agreementthat could involve closingstores as part of a survival planas it looks to restructure thebusiness to stem losses. Up to253 of the chain’s 450 storesshops could close if landlordsdo not agree to rent reductionsor holidays.

JUUL ID SOLUTION

Bestway Wholesale customerscan now buy JUUL productson the wholesaler’s site onlyafter completing a new Age-Verification document on thesite. Retailers are required toinput their name and store’sdetails, and accept and agreeto Age Verification, StoreSuspension and Retail Salespolicies. The details aremandatory.