COVID-19 UPDATE

NISA RETAILERS DONATE £103K TO CHARITY IN MAY

NISA RETAILERS HAVE RESPONDED TO THE NEEDS OF THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES BY COLLECTIVELY RAISING OVER £103K FOR GOOD CAUSES THROUGH THE MAKE A DIFFERENCE LOCALLY CHARITY.

Nisa retailers are responding to the needs of their local communities by providing additional support for charities and other good causes during perhaps their most trying times to date.

Throughout May, Nisa partners collectively donated £103,230 via the symbol group’s Making a Difference Locally charity.

This represents an increase of 26% on the previous month. The rise follows a boost to the charity’s income in recent months, with grocery sales having soared since the start of the pandemic in the UK, and sales of Coop and Heritage own label products in Nisa partner stores - which raise funds for good causes via Making a Difference Locally – also growing significantly as a result.

‘LIVES AT RISK’ OVER YET-TO-BE RELEASED COVID-19 FUNDS

Unite Scotland has strongly criticised the Scottish Government over the continued delay in releasing £155m of additional Covid-19 emergency finance to local authorities, stating that ‘lives are being put at risk’.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said that costed plans must be submitted in advance before the funds are released, unlike in England where the finance has been non ring-fenced. The UK Government made £1.6bn of funding available to councils in England on 18 April, which amounted to an additional £155m for Scotland.

ROBOT DELIVERIES

The Co-op is growing its robotbasedhome delivery service inMilton Keynes after demand forthe service doubled during thecoronavirus lockdown. The Coopwas the first to trial samedayrobot deliveries in the UKin April 2018.

CSG EXPANDS SUPPORT

Costcutter SupermarketsGroup has further beefed up itsfree online support package forindependent retailers to helpthem maximise the supportthey in turn can give to theirlocal communities. The onlinesupport now includes vitalguides on home delivery, call& collect and NHS “ThankYous” with all guides freeto download from CSG’sdedicated website.

CASHIER IN VOGUE

Waitrose cashier Anisa Omarhas been chose as the coverstar for the July issue of Voguemagazine as it celebrateskey workers who have beenworking tirelessly duringlockdown. The 21 year oldworks at Waitrose’s store inLondon’s King’s Cross.

FURLOUGH SCHEME UPDATED

THE GOVERNMENT HAS UPDATED ITS FURLOUGH SCHEME TO ALLOWBUSINESS TO BRING BACK EMPLOYEES PART-TIME.

The UK Government has said that from 1 July businesses will be able to bring furloughed employees back part-time. Also, from August, the level of support provided through the job retention scheme will be slowly tapered as follows: Q June and July: The government will pay 80% of wages up to £2,500 as well as employer National Insurance and pension contributions. Employers are not required to pay anything.

August: The government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions.

September: The government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and 10% of wages to make up 80% total up to a cap of £2,500.

October: The government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and 20% of wages to make up 80% total up to a cap of £2,500.

LOCAL RETAILERS DELIVER £200M BOOST TO GOOD CAUSES

National Lottery retailers have helped deliver a huge £200m increase in the amount of money going to good causes over the last year. Camelot announced its third successive year of sales growth last week and revealed that retailers helped grow sales by almost £700m in the year to the end of March, reaching a record total of over £7.9bn.

Over the same period, the National Lottery generated returns to Good Causes of £1.85bn, an increase of £198.4m (+12%), which is even more significant at this critical time as National Lottery Distributors continue to fund vital work across the UK.

This commitment will see up to £600m of National Lottery funding being directed towards UK charities and organisations to help tackle the impact of COVID-19.

QUICK AND EFFECTIVE STENCIL KIT

It may be low tech but a a new floor stencil kit from visual communication solutions specialist Beaverswood provides a fast and effective, solution to improve the management of social distancing in stores during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stencil kit can be used to quickly mark out two metre spaces on the floor and other public information messages to ensure people are kept safe and secure and that strict social distancing is observed.

For more, visit: www. beaverswood.co.uk or email sales@ beaverswood.co.uk.