COVID-19 UPDATE

‘CANCELLED’ CHRISTMAS FEARS GROW

ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY SAYS PEOPLE “MAY NOT BE ABLE TOGET TOGETHER IN THE LARGER GROUPS THAT THEY NORMALLYWOULD”.

Concerns that Christmas as we know it may be ‘cancelled’ this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have continued to grow as Environment Secretary George EustIce has warned that people “may not be able to get together in the larger groups that they normally would”.

The Minister stated that it was “too early to say” what restrictions would be in place over the festive period but with Covid cases growing daily, the likelihood of anything approaching a ‘normal’ Christmas appears to be receding fast. The total number of cases is now approaching 918,000.

Opposition parties have called for coronavirus rules to be the same across all four UK nations this Christmas.

Eustice commented: “We want people to have a Christmas that is as close to normal as possible. There will undoubtedly be frustrations about the restrictions, but people also understand we have to control the spread of the virus.”

SRC WARNS FIVE-TIER FRAMEWORK ‘COULD BE A CATASTOPHE’

THE SCOTTISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM HAS WELCOMED THE CLARITYOF SCOTLAND’S NEW FIVE-TIER FRAMEWORK BUT WARNS CLOSURESCOULD BE A CATASTROPHE.

Following the unveiling by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of a five tier Covid-19 Scottish Strategic Framework to managing future coronavirus restrictions, the Scottish Retail Consortium has responded by welcoming the clarity but also warning of a potential ‘catastrophe’.

Level 4 includes the potential closure of so-called non-essential shops. It does permit non-essential retailers to operate click & collect services and also permits food-to-go retailers to offer takeaway.

David Lonsdale, Director of the SRC, said: “We believe any move to close non-essential retailers will have only a minimal impact on reducing the spread of the virus whilst carrying very significant economic harms. Retail has demonstrated it can operate safely in the current environment and it is notable that there was no spike in infections following the lifting of lockdown on non-essential shops at the end of June. Scottish retailers have invested tens of millions of pounds to make stores safe and secure for customers.”

Scottish stores lost £2.4bn of retail sales over the first seven months of the pandemic.

TESCO ROLLS OUT TRAFFIC LIGHTS

Following successful trials, Tesco is rolling out a traffic light FlowControl system across 1,100 stores across the country. The system, from a company called record, is fully automated and provides highly accurate customer counting. The FlowControl traffic lights inform customers when it is safe to enter or when they need to wait because the store has reached its pre-set maximum safe capacity.

It is being installed on customer entrance and exit doors at all store formats including Express, Metro, Extra and Superstores to help the retailer comply with Covid-19 social distancing guidelines and ensure customers and staff feel safe.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE TO ENTER TIER 3

Nottinghamshire is to enter tier 3 from Friday and will include the entire county.

Nottingham, Rushcliffe, Gedling and Broxtowe were originally due to move into the top tier tomorrow, but Mansfield, Ashfield, Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood will also now be included.

City council leader David Mellen had earlier hit out at the delays and confusion, stating: “Nottingham people and businesses deserve clarity in difficult times. This is not good enough for our city.”

£30M SUPPORT PACKAGE

A £30m package of fundingis being made available tolocal authorities in Scotlandto support people facingfinancial hardship as a resultof coronavirus. The sumincludes money to provide freeschool meals over the schoolholidays.

FOOTFALL DOWN 1.2%

The latest figures from retailspecialist Springboard showa 1.2% drop in footfall in thelast week compared to theweek before. This is a slightimprovement on the 3.1%decline of the prior week.Almost all the drop in footfallwas down to the high streetwhere footfall fell by 3%.

COCKTAILS AT HOME

Waitrose has introducedinteractive ‘Cocktails atHome’ Experience Boxes inpartnership with John Lewiswhich provide shoppers withkey ingredients and kit tomake home cocktails, and alsoinclude access to an onlinemasterclass with a Waitrosedrinks specialist. The boxesare priced at £69.

BRC’S CYBER RESILIENCE TOOLKIT

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has partnered with the National Cyber Security Centre to develop a Cyber Resilience Toolkit for retailers.

Designed for non-cyber experts, it highlights the potential threats faced by retailers, key questions to consider when developing cyber resilience strategies, and guidance on the types of protections that should be implemented.

Helen Dickinson, BRC Chief Executive, said: “Retailers need to ensure their systems are watertight and up-todate.”

Access the kit free of charge from the BRC website.