Tag: Starbucks

Green light for Lidl, B&M and Starbucks at DunBear Park, Dunbar

A hattrick of national chains are set to open at DunBear Park, Dunbar.

The green light for a Lidl and B&M retail stores, and a Starbucks coffee shop, follows the approval of planning applications, subject to conditions, at the planning committee of East Lothian Council yesterday (1st November 2022).

The Starbucks coffee shop will boast an outdoor seating area and drive thru facilities.

These developments overall are set to deliver a multi-million pound investment in the townand create around 100 new jobs for Dunbar.

The proposed 54.3-acre low carbon community of DunBear Park, being undertaken by Hallhill Developments Ltd, has at its centrepiece The DunBear sculpture. This five-metre-high steel sculpture of a brown bear pays tribute to John Muir, the Dunbar-born naturalist who played a key role in the establishment of National Parks in the USA. 

The exciting mixed-use development, neighbouring the A1, aims to include office, industrial, retail and community uses, adopting the latest low carbon technology. 

One of the key outcomes of the community consultation event held for the development was a clear desire by the community for a far greater retail offering in Dunbar, serving to address increased demand and providing greater competition.

It was noted that there are discount retailers in all the major towns in East Lothian, except Dunbar. Unsustainable travel is therefore occurring, with residents of the town and surrounding area shopping elsewhere, with the clear environmental impacts this has.

By preventing expenditure leakage from the town and the surrounding area to other parts of East Lothian and Edinburgh it will also keep money in the community.

The green light for the proposals follows approval of roads, footpaths and essential infrastructure planning applications last year.

The hattrick of planning approvals achieved will serve to unlock the site, financially pump priming infrastructure to deliver further employment uses.

This new infrastructure has to be installed at significant costs and this early phase of development on the DunBear site makes it more likely that future employment-generating development will occur.

Ken Ross from Hallhill Developments Ltd commented: “It was fantastic to see the committee approve these planning applications. At a time when many retailers are scaling back due to the fallout from the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, it is great to be able to deliver these national outlets for the community of Dunbar.

“These will serve to address the increased demand and provide greater competition, key themes that came from the community consultation exercise we undertook.

“Developments such as this complement Dunbar town centre, and through preventing retail leakage to elsewhere in East Lothian and Edinburgh will keep more money in the town.

“The multi-million pound investment will deliver around 100 much-needed new jobs for the local community, which is a clear vote of confidence in this location, and will also serve to deliver the necessary infrastructure to allow us to bring forward further investment into Dunbar.”

Chicken welfare: KFC leads while Subway & Starbucks lag behind

KFC is leading UK fast food chains in the welfare of chickens raised for their meat while Subway, Starbucks, Domino’s and McDonald’s fall far behind according to a new report from World Animal Protection.

‘The pecking order 2021’ ranks fast food restaurants globally on how they are performing on their commitment, ambition, and transparency on chicken welfare in their supply chains. This year’s report shows that while the hospitality market has changed profoundly since the last report due to the global pandemic – alarming trends are still rife.

“Many big brand restaurants are denying billions of birds the chance to see sunlight, grow at a healthy rate or behave naturally.”

Most of the chicken meat served by the major fast food brands comes from chickens who live in cramped and barren environments with no sunlight, and many suffering from lameness and skin lesions. Intensive farming methods also often rely on routine antibiotic use as a quick fix solution to keep stressed and sick animals alive. This over-use of antibiotics is fueling the deadly superbug crisis that kills over 700,000 people a year and rising. Not only are these chickens suffering – human health is also being jeopardized.

For the first time, in addition to the global assessment, 14 local rankings have been also created to reflect the realities in different geographies. The brands assessed are Burger King, Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Subway.

The UK companies in ‘The pecking order 2021’ received the highest scores meaning it places first out of the 14 countries included in the global assessment, with an average company score of 45%.

‘The pecking order’ assesses companies via publicly available information on three areas:

  • Commitment (corporate commitments), their policies clearly state how important the welfare of chickens is to the company;
  • Ambition (objectives and targets), a defined timeline that demonstrates the objectives, targets and promises a company has made to improve chicken welfare and when they will meet them; and
  • Transparency (performance reporting), through their performance reporting, and how clear the company is about living up to its promises on chicken welfare.

The key findings for ‘The pecking order 2021’ in the UK are:

  • KFC, out of all eight global brands assessed, is the clear leader of ‘The pecking order 2021’. It is the only company in Tier 1 (Leading) in the UK. This is through alignment with the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) and KFC reporting on its performance against the company’s chicken welfare standards in Western Europe.
  • Nando’s, Burger King and Pizza Hut also scored high points in 2021 due to signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) in the UK, and to other markets in some cases.
  • Starbucks and Subway both scored zero points and are right at the bottom of the ranking sitting in Tier 6 with a score of ‘Very poor’.
  • Domino’s sits in Tier 5 (Poor) and McDonalds in Tier 4 (Getting Started) these are the last remaining fast food companies in the ranking that have not committed to the BCC.
  • Despite moving up one tier, from ‘Poor’ to ‘Getting started’, McDonald’s, unlike many of its competitors, is still unwilling to sign up to the BCC in any market globally. The company has some standards that align with the commitment.
  • Burger King, Nando’s and Pizza Hut – have aligned with the BCC in the UK since the previous assessment. They are starting to demonstrate a serious intention to improve chicken welfare in this market. As a result, Burger King and Pizza Hut – have moved up two tiers, and Nando’s has moved up one tier. This is encouraging as it will improve the lives of millions of chickens. World Animal Protection urges other companies featured in the UK – Starbucks, Subway, McDonald’s and Domino’s – to follow suit soon.

Jonty Whittleton, Global Campaign Head at World Animal Protection says: “Many big brand restaurants are denying billions of birds the chance to see sunlight, grow at a healthy rate or behave naturally. COVID-19 has taught us that the welfare of animals and human health is interlinked – there should be no business as usual. Commercial motives are driving cruelty and suffering, and this needs to end.

“KFC once again has shown leadership in the UK and Europe since they signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment in 2019, which will improve the lives of millions of chickens. But it is disappointing that companies such as Starbucks, Subway, McDonald’s and Dominos are refusing to change for the better.

“As more people take an active interest in the ethics of their food, more companies are willing to act. Now is the time for real change to happen, and companies that fail to move with the demands of the market are not only causing misery to millions of animals but are also risking their reputation.”

World Animal Protection is calling on these global companies to lead and ensure that any chickens that are being served at their restaurants are guaranteed a life worth living.

To find out more, visit: www.worldanimalprotection.org.uk

Starbucks stores in Edinburgh donate total of £2000 to local charities

  • Starbucks in Waverley and Livingston have donated £1,000 each to local causes
  • Steps to Hope in Edinburgh and the West Lothian Foodbank were chosen by store teams

This summer, Starbucks stores in Edinburgh and Livingston have chosen local charities to receive a donation of £1,000 each, as part of Starbucks Summer of Giving campaign. Continue reading Starbucks stores in Edinburgh donate total of £2000 to local charities

The last (village urban) resort for Helix House?

HELIX HOUSE has lain empty for eight years

Organisers expressed satisfaction at the levels of interest shown during two consultations exhibiting the De Vere Hotels group’s plans to build a new ‘Village Urban Resort’ at Crewe Toll. De Vere representatives displayed plans at Morrison’s on Ferry Road on Friday afternoon and again at the site of the proposed development on Saturday and said that the public reaction was ‘very positive’.

De Vere’s plans for the former World Markets WM Helix House building include a 120 bedroom hotel, a health and fitness club including a 20m indoor pool, a restaurant and bar and a Starbucks Coffee House – all under one roof. A customer and guest parking area for up to 270 vehicles is also included in the plans.

De Vere is likely to apply for planning permission next month and, if succesful, the Village Urban Resort would open in 2014.

Is a ‘Village Urban Resort’ a good thing for the area? Is Crewe Toll the right place? Would you use it? Let us know!