NEWS SPECIAL
COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/
staff a proper festive break.
JAMES HALL DELIVERS FOR NURSES
Stores will close at 5pm as a
SPAR WHOLESALER JAMES
‘thank you’ to staff and to give
HALL HAS LAUNCHED A NEW
them some well-earned extra
INITIATIVE WITH MARIE CURIE
time with family and friends.
TO HELP DELIVER PPE ACROSS
FESTIVE BREAK Midcounties Co-op is to close early on Christmas Eve to give
THE NORTH OF ENGLAND.
KLEENEX HANDOUTS Kleenex is donating 250,000 Kleenex hygiene face masks to the In Kind Direct charity to help the most vulnerable in our UK communities feel safe this winter as well as keeping charities’ staff and volunteers equipped so their vital work can continue.
FOOTFALL FREEFALL The latest data from retail specialist Springboard has revealed that footfall across all UK retail destinations was
Around 150 Marie Curie Nurses in the North of England can now collect essential PPE from their local Spar store thanks to the generosity of James Hall & Co, Spar wholesaler for the north of England. Marie Curie Nurses use an average of over 58,000 pieces of PPE a month, yet issues with getting enough of it meant the charity was experiencing a “logistical nightmare” in delivering the vast quantities of equipment to their frontline staff across the region. The initiative means nurses can now collect their vital PPE from their local Spar store, rather than waiting on it arriving by post. Peter Dodding, Sales and Marketing Director at James Hall, said “Just like
Marie Curie Nurses, Spar stores play an integral role in the community and we are absolutely delighted that we can help save time and money for the charity to spend where it is needed most. Nurses have been able to collect a month’s supply of PPE from their nearest Spar store.”
down 55.4% year-on-year last week compared to the same seven-day period last year. England saw the biggest decline at 59.8%, Scotland fell by 34.3%, Northern Ireland was down 30.4% and Wales saw a 29.6% drop.
ONLINE FOOD ORDERS UP 99% IN OCTOBER October’s retail sales estimates, released by the Office for National Statistics, reveal that online food sales rocketed by 99.2% in October, accounting for 10.4% of the entire groceries market. The results, however, were pre-Lockdown 2.0. All in all, e-commerce now accounts for 28.5% of all UK retail sales. Compared to pre-Covid February figures, total retail sales are up 7.9%, although this growth was again driven by 52.8% surge in online sales.
8 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 32 / WEDNESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER 2020
