Budget retailer Aldi has been rated the nation’s favourite in-store supermarket in Which?’s annual best and worst supermarket satisfaction survey. Continue reading Aldi is UK’s favourite supermarket
Tag: retail
New Lothian bus routes to Fort Kinnaird
Hundreds of customers are expected to benefit from the extension of two bus services to leading shopping and leisure destination Fort Kinnaird. Continue reading New Lothian bus routes to Fort Kinnaird
CeX Leith to open in Kirkgate
Revolutionary recycling retailer CeX is due to open in Leith in early March. CeX buys, sells and exchanges phones, games, movies, tablets, computers, PCs, cameras and digital electronics. The store will create eight new jobs and will be run by franchisees Shazad Akram and Kashif Hamid. It is their fourth CeX store. Continue reading CeX Leith to open in Kirkgate
M & S for Raeburn Place development
Raeburn Place Foundation has announced the signing of a lease agreement with M&S Foodhall for the Edinburgh Accies development at Raeburn Place. As the anchor tenant, Marks and Spencer will take 500m² towards the centre of the Comely Bank Road frontage.
City moves a step closer to Sunday parking fees
Councillors considered proposals to overhaul Edinburgh’s parking yesterday – and agreed in principle to extend new parking controls to Sundays. Continue reading City moves a step closer to Sunday parking fees
It’s in the bag: carrier bag charge raises £6.7m for good causes
‘Staggering’: Scotland’s single use carrier bag usage has dropped by 650 million – more than 80% – since charge was introduced
Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced that retailers across Scotland have witnessed a staggering reduction in the number of single use carrier bags handed out since the 5p charge came into effect 12 months ago.
Data from major grocery retailers indicate a reduction in bag use of around 80 per cent since 20 October 2014 – equivalent to at least 650 million fewer bags being handed out annually compared to previous years – with funds of around £6.7 million being donated to good causes as a result of the charge.
Boots, one of Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment signatories, has reported an estimated 80 per cent reduction in carrier bag use in Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary was at its store in Aberdeen to speak to shoppers about their experiences of the change so far.
Mr Lochhead said: “The 5p charge has been a major success with the number of single use bags down by a staggering 650 million, and with nearly £7m raised for good causes.
“Previously statistics showed that people in Scotland used more than 800 million new single-use carrier bags every single year – more per head than anywhere else in the UK.
“I thank Scotland for embracing this policy and showing we’re serious about tackling litter, reducing waste and creating a cleaner, greener environment for everyone to enjoy.
“It’s now becoming second nature to shoppers to reuse their carrier bags and hopefully to think more about our impact on the environment. I am confident that Scotland is going to go from strength to strength in its bid to tidy up our streets and beaches, where litter has been a highly visible problem in the past.”
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “With retailers in Scotland reporting a reduction of 80% in the use of single use carrier bags, it’s evident that Scottish shoppers have embraced a new shopping habit. It’s not always easy to change our habits, but Scotland is proving it has this in the bag.
“Many organisations have already agreed to donate money raised by the 5p charge to good causes, by signing up to Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment. Other retailers across the country are now being urged to follow suit.”
Nationwide retailers that signed up to Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment – an agreement to disclose information on the charge, and donations made, to a central publicly available portal – are reporting that various charities up and down the country have also benefited from funds raised by the charge, with at least £6.7 million being donated to good causes.
Morrisons, the Co-operative and Waitrose have indicated a reduction of 80 per cent, with Asda reporting a drop of 90 per cent. Sainsburys have seen 100 per cent reduction of single use carrier bags as they no longer offer them to shoppers.
Stephen Watkins, head of customer experience North & East Scotland at Boots UK, added: “We want to help our customers care for the environment while making a difference in their local communities. We’ve seen a really positive effect in our stores in Scotland since the introduction of the charge in 2014, with an estimated reduction of around 80 per cent in carrier bag usage. We’ve also been able to offer significant support to Macmillan Cancer Support and the important work that they do for those affected by cancer in Scotland.
“From 5 October 2015 we are donating the net proceeds of the sale of these bags to BBC Children In Need. Together with our customers we can help make a difference to our environment and support community projects across Scotland the rest of the UK.”
Local Morrisons stores spared the axe
Morrisons names eleven stores to close
Morrisons has revealed the stores it plans to close, a week after announcing ‘disappointing’ sales figures – a 47% drop in half-year pre-tax profit to £126m..
The supermarket giant announced plans for the closures last week as part of an attempt to revitalise the business, but has only now revealed which stores will be close. The retailer said it was also selling 140 loss-making “M” local convenience stores for about £25m.
Local stores at Granton Waterfront and Ferry Road are not affected – the stores to close are all in England. They are: Burnham-on-Sea, Castletown (Sunderland), Clevedon, Little Hulton, Northallerton, Oldbury, Salford, Shildon, Streatham, Tyldesley and West Bromwich.
There was no announcement about the date of the closures, but up to 900 members of staff will lose their jobs.
Chief executive David Potts said he regretted the closure of the stores. “This is a difficult decision, but one which we cannot see any way through to make those stores viable,” he said.
‘That’s a business trying to be a good citizen’
Deirdie Brock MP visits Sainsbury’s Blackhall
Deidre Brock, local MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, visited Sainsbury’s Blackhall on Monday where she met staff and local customers (writes GAIL WILSON).
The MP was welcomed by store manager, George Paton and taken on a tour of the 71,000 sq ft store on Craigleith Road.
Ms Brock learned about the store’s new Local Charity Partner, Meningitis Research Foundation. The charity has a vision of a world free from meningitis and septicaemia and was chosen by customers in July.
She also had a chance to hear about the store’s Food Donation Partner, Fareshare, who Sainsbury’s are teamed up with to make use of surplus food and Granton Baptist Church food bank, who they support with in-store collections.
Ms Brock, who was elected to represent Edinburgh North and Leith May’s general election, said: “I was delighted to hear about the work that Sainsbury’s staff do to reach out into the community, the support they and the store’s customers give to a local foodbank and to Crisis Fareshare. That’s a business trying to be a good citizen.
“The store is also a zero waste store recycling all of its packaging as well as providing recycling facilities for customers in the car park. It’s the first time I’ve seen an oil recycling bank in a supermarket car park and I’m looking forward to coming back soon to see how it works out.”
Store Manager George Paton said: “It has been great having Ms Brock in to our store, and introduce her to our customers and colleagues. I’m incredibly proud of our team, our store and the impact we have on the community. ”
Deirdie Brock MP is pictured with Sainsbury Blackhall PR Ambassador Gail Wilson
Over £1 million in the bag!
Monday (20 April) is the six month anniversary of the single-use carrier bag charge
Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced that four retailers have donated more than £1 million to good causes as a result of the single-use carrier bag charge, which came into effect almost six months ago.
The indicative figure has been revealed following retailer reports that single-use carrier bag usage has been reduced by more than 80 per cent since the charge was introduced on October 20, 2014.
Nationwide retailers that signed up to Zero Waste Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment – an agreement to disclose information on the charge, and donations made, to a central publicly available portal – are reporting that various charities up and down the country have also benefited from funds raised by the charge.
Mr Lochhead made the announcement at an Asda store in Elgin. Over the coming months, Zero Waste Scotland will collect data on carrier bag use and funds raised for good causes ahead of the first official figures being released later this year.
Presently, Asda is indicating a more than 90 per cent reduction in single-use carrier bag use, while raising £350,000 for two social enterprise charities – Social Investment Scotland and Foundation Scotland. The Co-operative Food has used the 5p charge to raise £375,000 for community projects across Scotland, reporting a usage reduction of 80 per cent.
Marks & Spencer has raised £214,374 for good causes, with £88,446 going to the Marine Conservation Society, £88,446 going to WWF, including the Orkney sustainable Fishery Improvement Programme, and a further £37,482 going to a range of local Scottish charities. The retailer is reporting an overall usage reduction of around 50 per cent in the past six months, which is significant as it comes in addition to the reductions already achieved by the introduction of a 5p charge on larger food bags in 2008.
Morrisons has also reported an 80 per cent reduction, and funds raised for the Morrisons Foundation – which will donate to good causes in Scotland – in line with the levels reported by the other retailers.
Other founding signatories include:
- Scottish branches of national retailers such as McDonalds, Premier Stores, Waitrose, Argos, Austin Reed, Papyrus, Jaegar, Ted Baker, Adidas, Mango and T. M. Lewin & Sons
- Local businesses including McEwen’s of Perth, EUSA Potter Shop, the Highland Soap Company, J&G Coia Sweetshop in Edinburgh, Taylors of Banchory, Pentland Foods, Andersons of Inverurie, and R&K Stenhouse in Clackmannanshire.
- Top tourist destinations such as Gleneagles, The Green Welly Stop, Edinburgh’s Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, Kilmartin Museum and all sites run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Mr Lochhead said: “I’m delighted that in just six months the carrier bag charge is already making such a big impact in Scotland.
“I very much welcome the dramatic reductions in carrier bag use being reported by these major retailers. It suggests that many consumers are now in the habit of reusing bags, which should reduce the amount of litter that blights our communities and natural environment, and costs a fortune to clean up.
“This primary purpose of this legislation is to clean up our streets and beaches by cutting carrier bag use. But it’s also fantastic that the charge has already raised so much money for worthy causes from just these four retailers alone. This is just the tip of the iceberg and I am looking forward to seeing fuller figures later in the year – but in the meantime I encourage all retailers to sign up to the Carrier Bag Commitment to ensure that shoppers can have full transparency over where the money being raised from the charge is going.”
Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Over the past six months, we’ve seen an incredible change to shopping habits in Scotland. Shoppers have embraced the 5p charge and rapidly reduced their consumption of single-use carrier bags more readily than we ever hoped.
“I’d like to thank all the founding signatories published today, to our Carrier Bag Commitment, and urge more retailers to join them. Initial feedback from signatories suggests that more than £1 million has been raised for good causes in Scotland and by embracing the 5p single-use bag charge, businesses and shoppers are helping reduce waste and repair the damage already done. We can all be proud of that.”
By signing up to the Carrier Bag Commitment, signatories can gain access to Zero Waste Scotland’s reporting portal which is an easy way of meeting the legal obligation to record data on the number of bags sold, amount raised and how the proceeds were used, which applies to retailers employing 10 or more full-time equivalent staff.
Asda’s Senior Director for Scotland Kevin McBride said: “At Asda, we want the carrier bag charge to have long-term social – as well as environmental – benefits. By working with our partners, Social Investment Scotland and Foundation Scotland, we have the opportunity to invest innovatively in our local communities, helping to grow the social enterprise sector and supporting local projects in every Asda mile.
“By working in partnership in this way, we can ensure that the carrier bag charge delivers meaningful, sustainable benefits for Scotland, helping to drive growth, create jobs and regenerate communities for the long-term.”
Old hat? Tackle Edinburgh’s (nearly) new Vintage Trail!
Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be!
Fans of vintage goods will be able to track down their favourite vinyl, 50s dress and retro food and drink using a new Vintage Trail guide produced by the City of Edinburgh Council.
The guide, which takes you on a trip down memory lane, is packed with over 100 businesses. It includes retailers selling clothes, books, music, food and drink, clubs and markets, and was inspired by the number of high quality vintage outets in Edinburgh.
Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “We’ve kept our definition of vintage as inclusive as possible and all of the entries are individual and unusual. The guide is also well indexed with handy maps to help you get around. It is one of many Council projects to help build stronger town centres and includes some areas out with the city centre.
You can create your own vintage trail whether you are heading for the beach at Portobello and South Queensferry or the hidden gems in Stockbridge, Leith and the Grassmarket.”
Robert Mullin of The Gently Mad on the trail, said: “The Gently Mad is a father and son business and we are passionate about, if not obsessed with, antiquarian and vintage books and have a particular interest in bookbinding and book restoration.
“Our bookshelves are crammed with hundreds of wonderful volumes specialising in children’s illustrated, natural history, and Scottish interest. Our small working bindery is on view to the public and we are always happy to discuss the traditional processes involved in repairing and making books.
“We are delighted to be included in the Edinburgh Vintage Trail 2015 brochure and hope that its readers will see that Edinburgh as a city has a lot to offer those with an interest in all things vintage.”