THIS WEEK'S NEWS

RETAILERS GEAR UP FOR £20M ‘MUST BE WON’ DRAW

RETAILERS ARE IN LINE FOR BUMPER FOOTFALL AND SALES AHEADOF 7 NOVEMBER AS THE NEW PRIZE TIER MEANS £20M MUST BEWON IN THE DRAW.

Camelot is predicting that National Lottery retailers are in line for a sales increase of up to 48% thanks to the upcoming Lotto £20m ‘Must Be Won’ draw that will take place on Saturday 7 November.

Lotto POS started landing in stores this week, and retailers are reminded to site this in the best possible location and as soon as possible.

The new, enhanced Lotto kicks in on the same night, meaning that players who match two main numbers in a Lotto ‘Must Be Won’ draw where no one matches all six main numbers to win the jackpot outright will also scoop a share of the jackpot – winning £5 in addition to their free Lucky Dip (previously the jackpot was only shared between cash prize winners).

RETAILERS PROMISE ‘NO CHILD WILL GO HUNGRY’

CONVENIENCE RETAILERS STEP IN TO FILL THE VOID LEFT AS THEGOVERNMENT REFUSES TO EXTEND ITS SCHOOL MEALS VOUCHERSCHEME.

Kind-hearted retailers across the country have pledged their support for Manchester Utd footballer Marcus Rashford’s free school meal campaign by providing free school meals for those in need throughout half-term.

The move actively tackles child poverty in the wake of the Government’s heavily criticised decision not to extend its school meals voucher scheme.

High Wycombe Londis retailer Raaj Chandarana is one of many retailers pledging to give a free lunch, including a sandwich, orange juice, a snack and a piece of fruit, to any child accompanied by an adult between 11am and 1pm.

Raaj tweeted that “no child will go hungry” in his area, adding that there was “no purchase required, no judgement, no strings”. He said he intends to help “end the stigma surrounding needing help”.

This was retweeted by Rashford to his 3.7 million followers with the line “Raaj, you’re incredible thank you”.

BARCODE IS BACK

Barcode Festival, the event created by GroceryAid to bring people together across the industry for a summer party and celebration, will return on 8 July 2021 at Magazine London.

Headliners Bastille, Dizzee Rascal, Becky Hill and Scott Mills – who were all due to perform at this year’s cancelled event – have already been confirmed.

Previous Festivals all sold out and tickets are in high demand for 2021.

Visit www.barcodefestival.co.uk to find out more.

SLR REWARDS 2020 GOES VIRTUAL

This year’s SLR Rewards will now be held in a virtual format on Friday 11 December at 6pm. The most rewarding night in retail was originally scheduled to be take place in June but the champagne was put on ice because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Antony Begley, SLR Publishing Director, said: “We are both delighted and excited to be launching the first ever SLR Rewards in virtual format. Clearly, it’s not how we had envisaged the Rewards and we would have much preferred to bring the entire Scottish local retailing industry together for a great night as we’ve been doing for almost 20 years – but coronavirus has made that impossible. The safety and wellbeing of all our industry friends is paramount.

“But we are thoroughly looking forward to recognising and rewarding this absolutely amazing sector in a virtual environment. It’s been a long, tough year for us all so it will be a pleasure to end the year with a celebration of the entire Scottish local retailing sector. I look forward to virtually welcoming you all on 11 December.”

WELSH DELIVERY SPIKE

Welsh retailers are seeingsharp spikes in home deliveryorders since the countryentered its so-called ‘firebreak’lockdown at the end of lastweek. Convenience storesare reporting sharp rises inhome delivery orders sincethe principality entered its‘firebreak’ lockdown on Friday.

SUPERDRUG CONCEPT

Superdrug will open a new7,342sq ft concept storeon Friday at the SilverburnShopping Centre in Glasgow,the first of its kind in Scotlandand featuring the largest everBeauty Studio in the retailer’shistory.

BOOTS 12 MIN TEST

Boots is to offer shoppers a12-minute Covid-19 swabtest in the next few weeks atselected stores. The servicewill be aimed specificallyat people who do not havesymptoms although the testscannot be used by customersas a pre-flight test beforeboarding an aeroplane,which requires results to beprocessed by a registered lab.

CO-OP FUNDING

The Co-op is urging communitygroups, foodbanks, volunteercentres and other grassrootsorganisations to apply forfunding from a £1.5m pot madeavailable by the retailer. Grantsrange from £2,000 to £10,000and applications can bemade online.

REAL TIME WAGES

Holland & Barrett is allowingstaff instant access to theirearned wage wheneverthey need it through apartnership with tech companyWagestream. The schememeans workers can draw downtheir earnings in real time,rather than waiting until theirstandard pay day.

WELSH CLARIFICATION

The Welsh government hasissued fresh guidance on whatconstitutes “essential” productsthat retailers can sell during the17-day lockdown period. Themove follows a fierce backlashafter retailers had to closeoff sections of their stores onFriday, causing enormouscustomer confusion.