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The Week In Retail Issue 35
MORRISONS DAILY STORES BOOST McCOLL’S
A STRONG PERFORMANCE FROM ITS MORRISONS DAILY FORMATHELPED DRIVE A 12% RISE IN LIKE-FOR-LIKE SALES FOR McCOLL’SIN 2020.
The increase, reported as part of the convenience chain’s trading update for the year ended 29 November, is a significant improvement on 2019’s flat (0%) figure. It was further buoyed by BWS, fresh food and tobacco sales.
With the convenience sector surging during the pandemic, McColl’s saw a 2.3% rise in revenues to £1.25bn. This was partly offset by 179 store closures during the year as the business shifted its focus to the larger, more profitable Morrisons Daily stores.
Earnings before tax is expected to be between £29m and £30m, a drop from £32.1m in 2019. McColl’s put this down to margin pressures brought on by changes in shopping behaviour during the pandemic which led to an altered product mix, resulting in a squeeze on POR.
UK GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO EXTEND PROTECTION – AGAIN
THE UK GOVERNMENT HAS ONCE AGAIN REJECTEDCALLS FOR A BILL TO OFFER GREATER PROTECTION TOSHOPWORKERS.
Minister of State for Crime and Policing Kit Malthouse has told the House of Commons that the government remains unconvinced that there is a case for introducing a specific offence of assaulting a shopworker.
Alex Norris MP’s Assaults on Retail Workers (Offences) Bill was scheduled for its second reading in the House of Commons in September but the government objected to it progressing and the bill is now delayed until 8 January 2021.
Shopworkers trade union has now collected more than 90,000 signatures for its parliamentary petition to demand new legislation to protect shopworkers, edging closer to the 100,000 signatures the union believes is necessary to ensure the issue is debated at the House of Commons.
POSTMASTERS CLEARED IN HORIZON CASE
Six former postmasters have been formally acquitted after they were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting. The accusations followed the introduction of the Horizon IT system to post office branches, which was later shown to have wrongly flagged-up shortfalls in cash.
The Post Office chose not to oppose appeals from the defendants, who received convictions between 2003 and 2013.
The government is set to hold its own Horizon inquiry next year.
ONE-O-ONE DONATES £14K
One-O-One Convenience Stores has donated over £14,000 to Radio Clyde Cash For Kids, just two months after the charity teamed-up with the retail chain. Retail Area Business Manager Jim Harper (pictured) handed over a cheque for £14,225 to the charity outside One-O-One’s Castlemilk store.
Harper said there were many more cheques to come over the course of the year-long partnership.
He added: “We are delighted with the engagement of our teams who are going way above and beyond in their determination to help all kids this Christmas around our trading areas of Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and Edinburgh.”
FALKIRK BANKING
The Co-op in Denny, Falkirk,has launched a OneBankskiosk in-store giving customersand businesses access to anybank or building society, freeof charge. The staffed kioskis the town’s first face-to-facebanking facility in more thantwo years.
PAYZONE BUS DEAL
Payzone has secured a longtermcontract with NationalExpress Bus to providetransport ticketing servicesto customers in the WestMidlands, who are now ableto purchase tickets using theNX mTicket app at selectedPayzone stores as part of awider roll out.
CO-OP REFILLS
Central England Co-op istrialling a new concept thatallows customers to fill theirown containers with food. Theretailer has teamed up withSuma Wholefoods to createits first-ever zero waste refillstation in its £3m flagshipconcept store in Lichfield.Customers will be able to usethe new feature for a rangeof products including oats,porridge, rice and dried fruit.
MÜLLER PLANS DIGITAL TAKEOVER
Müller is partnering with Asda to engage shoppers digitally instore and online in a year-long deal that includes digital in-store take-overs, online activations and Müller static POS creative.
Stores will see multiple screens above the yogurt aisle showing the latest Müller Corner TV advert which will be regularly updated to also feature core brands like Müllerlight and Müller Rice.
Seen in 35 stores across England, Scotland and Wales, the takeover launched at the end of November. In addition, Asda Wakefield has larger screens and changing imagery which currently highlight the variety of Müller Corner variants available.
On www.asda.com, the partnership allows full page marketing takeovers and targeted shopper advertising. Performance will be analysed and then tweaked throughout 2021 to maximise potential.
