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COVID-19 UPDATE
NEWS SPECIAL
JAMES HALL DELIVERS FOR NURSES
SPAR WHOLESALER JAMESHALL HAS LAUNCHED A NEWINITIATIVE WITH MARIE CURIETO HELP DELIVER PPE ACROSSTHE NORTH OF ENGLAND.
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.”
CHRISTMAS IS BACK ON!
LEADERS OF THE FOUR UK NATIONS HAVE AGREED TO A RELAXINGOF CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS FOR FIVE DAYS OVER THECHRISTMAS PERIOD BUT WARN PEOPLE TO BE CAUTIOUS.
In a remarkable development, the leaders of the four UK nations have jointly agreed to allow people from up to three households to meet up and form a “Christmas bubble” for five days over the festive period from 23 to 27 December.
The move has been criticised by Prof Andrew Hayward, a scientific adviser to the government, who said the relaxation of rules was “throwing fuel on the Covid fire”.
The measures will also see travel restrictions lifted to allow people to visit families in other parts of the
UK although Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked people to use “personal judgement” on whether to visit elderly relatives.
Those travelling to or from Northern Ireland can travel on 22 and 28 December, but otherwise travel to and from bubbles will need to be done between the 23rd and 27th. Once a bubble is formed, it must not be changed or be extended further, and a bubble of three households would be able to stay overnight at each other’s home but would not be able to visit hospitality or retail environments.
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.
WALES FM DEMANDS UK-WIDE APPROACH
Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford has called for a UK-wide approach to coronavirus rules, stating that it “makes sense” to “respond to the consequences of greater household mixing” with a common strategy in the aftermath of the five-day period of relaxed rules over Christmas.
He declared himself “cheered up by the fact that by meeting together four times” the four UK governments have been able to reach a common position on the Christmas agreement, but wanted a similarly joined-up approach in the aftermath of Christmas.
CO-OP SETS ROBOTS LOOSE
Co-op is expanding its use of autonomous home delivery robots following a launch in Milton Keynes and, most recently, Northampton. The retailer plans to use around 300 robots by the end of 2021 as it targets more towns and cities.
Customers can access robot delivery of groceries through the Starship app, choosing from a range of more than 1,000 items. Shoppers ‘drop a pin’ where they want the delivery sent and can watch in real-time on an interactive map as the robot approaches. Once the robot arrives, customers receive an alert and can then meet and unlock it using the app.
FESTIVE BREAK
Midcounties Co-op is to closeearly on Christmas Eve to givestaff a proper festive break.Stores will close at 5pm as a‘thank you’ to staff and to givethem some well-earned extratime with family and friends.
KLEENEX HANDOUTS
Kleenex is donating 250,000Kleenex hygiene face masksto the In Kind Direct charityto help the most vulnerable inour UK communities feel safethis winter as well as keepingcharities’ staff and volunteersequipped so their vital workcan continue.
FOOTFALL FREEFALL
The latest data from retailspecialist Springboard hasrevealed that footfall acrossall UK retail destinations wasdown 55.4% year-on-yearlast week compared to thesame seven-day period lastyear. England saw the biggestdecline at 59.8%, Scotland fellby 34.3%, Northern Irelandwas down 30.4% and Walessaw a 29.6% drop.
