Aldi stores in Edinburgh and the Lothians are to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and vegetables in an effort to cut single-use plastics.
From the end of November, more than 14 stores across Edinburgh and the Lothians will offer the bags as a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastic. Continue reading Edinburgh and Lothians Aldi stores to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and veg
Unions have reacted furiously to reports that Tesco is set to slash thousands of jobs as part of a company restructuring programme. Continue reading Tesco’s unions seek urgent talks over major job cuts
Edinburgh Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson is holding a series of advice surgeries in supermarkets around the constituency. These pop-up surgeries aim to give more constituents the opportunity to talk to Ben about any issues, concerns or ideas they may have. Continue reading Local MSP sets up shop in supermarkets
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
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.
Supermarket chain Tesco has announced that the environmental charities Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy will benefit from an estimated £1.8m raised from carrier bag charges.
Compulsory charging for plastic carrier bags is to be introduced in Scotland next month. It is already in force in Wales, where it has raised more than £2.3m to support wildlife charity RSPB’s conservation work since 2011.
More than 27,000 Tesco customers took part in the vote to choose the beneficiaries of the levy, which is expected to be worth about £1m in Scotland and about £800,000 in Wales. Both charities, which were chosen from a list of 120 organisations, are planning to use the money to fund a variety of projects to keep local communities clean, green and tidy. The partnerships will run from 20 October 2014 for at least a year.
Greg Sage, community director for Tesco, said: “Our customers are the ones who will pay the charge, so we really wanted them to choose the charities that will benefit from it. The response was had was absolutely incredible – 27,000 people voted which is a fantastic turnout.
“Since 2011, the carrier bag levy in Wales has raised over £2.3 million for the local RSPB, which has been used for vital conservation work. Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy now have a fantastic opportunity to use the money raised from the bag charge to make a real difference to the communities they serve.”
Derek Robertson, chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB), said: “This is fantastic news for KSB and a tremendous opportunity for Scotland, a country whose people, organisations and institutions have really wrapped their arms around KSB and shown that they care about their environment by voting for Scotland’s own environmental charity.
“We would like to thank everyone who voted for us. We cannot wait to get started. Lots of local community groups and organisations that work in partnership with us, from all across Scotland, will benefit from this funding.”
Nominations also opened this week for the 2014 Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards Scheme, worth £200,000. The scheme will make one-off donations of between £500 and £2,500 to registered charities and not-for-profit organisations for working on local projects that support health, opportunities for young people and environmental sustainability.
Morrisons, the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain, is to launch an online grocery service.
Morrisons is currently the only one of the big four – Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s are the others – not to offer an online shopping option to their customers, but a deal with internet grocer Ocado will see it offer the new service by January next year.
Delivery vans will carry the Morrisons brand, with Ocado supplying logistical support from it’s distribution centre in the Midlands.
Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips told BBC Radio 4: “This is a very good transaction for both parties. We’re going from a standing start to the fast lane in the blink of an eye.”
Business analysts Conlumino predict that the total food and grocery market is forecast to grow 22% from £127bn to £155bn by 2017, with online food sales are expected to grow by nearly 70% over the same period, from £5.9bn to £10bn. Almost 30% of people in the UK now shop online for food and groceries.
Ever tried online grocery shopping? What’s the verdict? Let us know!
