Community News

CommunityNews

OPINION, NEWS AND ACHIEVEMENTS FROM PREMIER RETAILERS

Julie keeps community top of her priorities

Telford community-focused Premier retailer Julie Kaur has a busy diary of events and activities as she continues to put her community first.

Generous retailer Julie Kaur who runs Premier Jules Convenience Store in Telford, has a long track record of fantastic community engagement under her belt, but she hasn’t rested on her laurels and is more than busy with a fresh set of commitments and challenges, all to benefi t her local community.

She is currently preparing for a Macmillan Hike in September to raise money for Cancer Research and the following month will tackle the London Marathon to raise money for the Fauja Singh Clubhouse Charity. She expects to raise more than £2,000 over the two events. She also managed time to get involved in the opening ceremony for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where she found herself on stage and rubbing shoulders with stars like Duran Duran and Tom Daley. She said: “I’ve always supported local charities and causes, and that will never change. I’m really looking forward to the hike and the marathon and it will be great to raise more money for such great charities.”

Julie’s store has been shortlisted in the Community categories at both the Retail Industry Awards and the The Convenience Awards.

Faraz backs local running festival

Having supported the local Kirkcaldy Parks Running Festival since its inception in 2019, Faraz Iqbal of Premier Linktown Local in Kirkcaldy is once again supporting the event which returns this year after a pause for the pandemic.

The store has provided thousands of bottles of water for runners during these events and will again be sponsoring this year’s festival.

Water stations will be sited every 5km along the half marathon route and halfway in the 10k route and there will be a bottle waiting for every fi nisher, with Faraz and his team supplying it all and making sure that everyone stays safe and hydrated on each day.

Faraz said: “We are extremely proud to be able to sponsor the Kirkcaldy Parks Running Festival again this year! It is a great honour to give back to our community and bring such an amazing event to Kirkcaldy once again and we are looking forward to seeing you all there! Good luck to all taking part on the day!”

INBRIEF

HEALTHY START TO SCHOOL

Premier Broadway Convenience Store in Edinburgh recently joined forces with the SGF Healthy Living Programme to celebrate the start of primary school and the start of secondary school for the fi rst time for pupils in the local community.

The children starting secondary school for the fi rst time were offered free

healthy goodie bags to encourage them to adopt healthier eating habits as they entered the next phase of their education.

TALKING TACTICS

What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market? Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@booker.co.uk

IndustryNews

A DIGEST OF NEWS FROM THE INDEPENDENT RETAILING INDUSTRY

Levelling Up investment should ‘prioritise local’

New consumer polling from the ACS has found that 70% of shoppers would prefer to see investment in their local communities rather than in just town and city centres.

As the UK Government continues to pursue its ‘Levelling Up’ policy, a new survey conducted on behalf of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has found that the vast majority of shoppers would prefer to see public investment going into local communities rather than just towns and cities.

Carried out as part of ACS’s 2022 Community Barometer report, the survey found that 70% of consumers would prefer to see investment in their local neighbourhood, compared to just 30% who would prefer investment in their nearest town or city centre.

The polling also revealed that support for existing local businesses would be the top investment priority for consumers, followed by better community policing, and support for new businesses locally.

Government policy around levelling up has long been focused on high streets and town and city centres.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Our polling clearly shows that people want safe local neighbourhoods with vibrant established businesses and innovative new services. The services in our communities, including local shops, need more support and incentives to invest.”

MUP draws nearer in NI

Independent retailers in Northern Ireland have reiterated their support for the introduction of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol.

Responding to a consultation, NFRN leaders in the province said MUP would create a “level playing field” and allay fears of cross-border trading.

The move follows the recent publication of a paper by the Department of Finance tax strategy group on tax excise which suggested the introduction of MUP in the Republic of Ireland earlier this year could lead to less tax being paid due to people shopping across the border.

INBRIEF

DRS COUNTDOWN BEGINS

There is now less than a year left for independent retailers in Scotland to get ready for the implementation of the new Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which is set to go live next year.

The Scottish Government announced that Scotland’s DRS will go live on 16 August 2023.

Retailers will play a key role in the scheme by collecting empty bottles and cans from shoppers ready for recycling. The scheme will add a refundable deposit of 20p to single use drinks containers to encourage recycling and reduce litter.

The scheme includes soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and covers PET plastic bottles, metal cans and glass bottles ranging from 50ml to three litres.

In return, retailers will receive 3.55p per container for the first 8,000 containers returned each week using a reverse vending machine and 1.35p for each additional container.

Retailers opting for manual handling of returns will receive 2.69p per container.

TALKING TACTICS

What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market? Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@booker.co.uk