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Editor GILLIAN HAMILL (01) 294 7776 gillian.hamill@mediateam.ie

Staff journalist JULIA O’REILLY (01) 294 7709 julia.oreilly@mediateam.ie

Contributors CAROLINE MCENERY FIONNUALA CAROLAN BARRY WHELAN COLIN GORDON

Head of business IAN MULVANEY (01) 294 7766 ian.mulvaney@mediateam.ie

Account manager MARK MORGAN (01) 294 7767 mark.morgan@mediateam.ie

Circulation subs@mediateam.ie

Publisher JOHN McDONALD (01) 294 7744 john.mcdonald@mediateam.ie

Printing W & G Baird Ltd

ShelfLife is a controlled circulation magazine, available to selected individuals with interests in the retail and wholesale grocery trade, who fall within the publisher’s terms of control. For those outside these terms, annual subscription is €98.00 including postage & packing.

Inflationary pressures pile on as Northern Ireland Protocol looms closer on horizon

Warning bells have been ringing loud and clear as the Northern Ireland Protocol inches ever closer. The protocol, aimed at preventing a hard border within the island, will involve numerous further checks on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain later this year.

Last month, we reported that retailers representing more than 75% of Northern Ireland’s grocery market had written to David Frost, the UK’s Brexit minister and European Commission vice president Marcos Sefcovic urging action, as the extended grace period regarding checks is currently due to finish at the end of September.

According to the supermarkets, if a solution is not found, they will face greater costs and complexity in moving goods from Britain to NI from October onwards. And although they welcomed extensions to grace periods, the retailers believe “much more needs to be done before the end of September”.

Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman has been forthright in clearly laying out the consequences if action is not taken. “There is no other outcome for consumers in Northern Ireland in the end other than higher prices," he wrote in a letter to David Frost. "Being able to keep the show on the road, let alone growing, is going to be very challenging,"

Inflationary pressures were also clearly spelled out in a recent survey by Ibec’s Food Drink Ireland (FDI) of its members in July. Alongside factors such as Covid, the FDI said: “Brexit has added significantly to trading costs including transport and logistics and additional administration both for trade with the UK but also for trade with the EU using the land-bridge.”

The FDI has subsequently called for a rapid roll out to the sector of funding from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, and a renewed focus across government on reducing the cost of doing business in Ireland. Gillian Hamill, editor, ShelfLifemagazine

Contents August

20 18 28 30

Managing Director JOHN McDONALD; Sales Director PAUL BYRNE Operations Director BILLY HUGGARD

Published monthly by Mediateam Ltd., 55 Spruce Avenue, Sandyford, Dublin 18. A94 RP22 Telephone (01) 294 7776 Fax (01) 294 7799 ISSN: 1393 0753

Circulation audited by Audit Bureau of Circulations.

COVER STORY

20 Maximising Maxol

Following Maxol’s recent announcement of a €7 million investment in upgrades to its forecourt network,

CEO Brian Donaldson, discusses the group’s move from a fuel centric brand to one known more for its food offering

NEWS&ANALYSIS

4 News grid 6 Seen and heard 8 CSNA news 39 Food & drink 58 NOffLA news

FEATURES&REPORTS

10 Dan White charts the success of the Weston family in the wake of the possible Selfridges sale 18 Daybreak store profile:

Arthur McGuire of McGuire’s

Daybreak speaks to Julia

O’Reilly about the store’s successful recent renovation 26 Nearby store profile:

Jason Leonard from Nearby

Drumkeeran explains why the new symbol brand from

S&W Wholesale is just right for them 28 To dine or not to dine:

Retailers tell Fionnuala

Carolan why it’s just not worth opening their indoor dining facilities under the current regulations ADVISOR

MARKETING& CATEGORY FOCUS

30 Breakfast 34 RTD beverages 40 Symbol groups 60 Market movers