NEWS SPECIAL
COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/
POUNDLAND DELIVERS Poundland is to trial an online shopping and delivery service at the start of 2021, closing one of its stores in Staffordshire to convert it into
CRISIS GRANTS
LAST CHANCE FOR RETAILTRUST GRANTS TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO APPLY FOR GRANTS FROM RETAILTRUST TO SUPPORT THOSE AFFECTED BY COVID-19, WITH APPLICATIONS CLOSING AT THE END OF THIS MONTH.
an online fulfilment centre. The company is also making wi-fi available in its stores.
ALDI PAYS UP Aldi has written to its small suppliers to let them know that it will extend its immediate payment terms agreement for small suppliers until the end of the year.
SGF EVENTS PULLED Scottish Grocers’ Federation has cancelled all its remaining events scheduled to be held in 2020. These include September’s mini summit in Falkirk and the Federation’s annual conference, which was due to take place in Glasgow in October. The mini summit had already been postponed from April. Those who had booked a place at one of the upcoming events will be contacted in the next week or so to confirm future arrangements. SGF is currently making arrangements for all events in 2021.
8 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 14 / WEDNESDAY 22ND JULY 2020
Those in the retail industry have only a few days left to apply for non-repayable grants from retailTRUST to support those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The application portal closes at the end of this month. Non-repayable crisis grants are available to support you in a variety of situations including outstanding rent or mortgage payments, risk of homelessness, priority bills, and boiler or heating repairs. The grants are available to those working in the retail or supporting
service industries across the spectrum, including retail, wholesale, supply chain, food distribution, warehousing and manufacturing. All applications will be assessed on an individual basis. If you know of anyone who would be helped by this financial assistance, please ask them to click on the link below which takes them to the qualifying criteria and the application forms: grantportal.retailtrust.org.uk. When completing your application select ‘Covid-19’ as the particular appeal.
£1.3M SUPPORT FOR RENFREWSHIRE BUSINESSES Renfrewshire Council has unveiled plans for a £1.3m package of support designed to help local businesses get back on their feet after the coronavirus lockdown. The proposals include crisis loans, grants and advice services and were based on the results of a detailed survey of more than 500 local firms run by the council and Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce. The council’s Emergencies Board will be asked on Friday to approve proposals for several new funds targeting short-term support to the local economy. These include:
Q £500k for zero-interest business restart loans of up to £5,000 to help small-and-medium-sized business with short-term cashflow Q £400k for grants of up to £10,000 to help sustain businesses and plan for growth in the medium term Q £250k for grants of up to £2,500 to help businesses adapt their premises to allow for physical distancing Q £150k to help fund expert advice to businesses in crisis and selfemployed people over training and access to funding.
