Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

KeyStore’s Christmas food bank campaign returns to support communities

KeyStore is asking its retailers to once again support their local food bank in the run-up to Christmas by placing dumpbins in-store for customers to donate food and other items.

KeyStore outlets across the country are providing collection points for customers to donate non-perishable food products including packaged cereals, rice and pasta, pasta sauce, tinned meat and vegetables, tea and coffee, biscuits, and UHT milk and fruit juice.


Food banks also require vital non-food products, including pet food, toiletries, feminine products, baby supplies and household items such as washing-up liquid and laundry products.

Craig Brown, chief sales and marketing officer at Glasgow-based wholesaler JW Filshill, said that the Covid-19 pandemic meant that supporting local communities would be even more important this festive season. “No-one knows their community better than our retailers who are close to their customers and understand what they have been going through over the last few months,” he said.

“In an ideal world we wouldn’t need food banks but sadly we do, and even more so in 2020 when people are struggling following redundancy or are unable to work because their employer has had to shut down their business.

“Every Christmas we encourage our retailers to support a community campaign that their customers can get involved in and following feedback from our customers who got behind our food bank campaign last year we have decided to run the initiative again for 2020.”

Mr Brown added: “No-one should be going short at any time of the year but particularly at Christmas we know that there will be even more families in need of help and support. It has been widely reported in the press that food banks are under even more pressure than usual just now and by providing a branded KeyStore dumpbin for stores we can encourage the public to support those in need in a year none of us ever thought we would experience.”

JW Filshill has distributed 150 dumpbins across the KeyStore estate of nearly 200 stores, from Doncaster in the south to Wick in the north.

More for you

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale, on December 13, 2024 in London, England.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail sales disappoint before Christmas

UK retail sales rose less than expected in the runup to Christmas, according to official data Friday that deals a fresh blow to government hopes of growing the economy.

Separate figures revealed a temporary reprieve for prime minister Keir Starmer, however, as public borrowing fell sharply in November.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sybren Attema, and Betty Eekchaut

Presidents Sybren Attema, FrieslandCampina, and Betty Eekchaut, Milcobel

Yazoo parent FrieslandCampina announces merger with Belgian rival Milcobel

Dutch dairy collective FrieslandCampina has agreed to merge with smaller Belgian rival Milcobel, creating a leading dairy cooperative.

FrieslandCampina, whose brands include Yazoo and Chocomel, said the merger will provide the foundation for a future-oriented organisation that has dairy front and centre for member dairy farmers, employees, consumers, and customers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Retail Shoplifting. Man Stealing In Supermarket
Photo: iStock

Home Office reaffirms commitment to abolish £200 shoplifting threshold

The UK government has pledged stronger measures to combat anti-social behaviour and shoplifting, which it acknowledges as serious crimes that disrupt communities and harm businesses.

Addressing a House of Lords debate on Monday, Home Office minister Lord Hanson detailed plans to abolish the controversial £200 shoplifting threshold and to introduce a new offence for assaults on retail workers.

Keep ReadingShow less
post office store
Photo: Post Office Ltd

Post Office launches wellbeing hub to support postmasters amid rising retail crime

In response to the mounting pressures faced by postmasters across the UK, the Post Office has unveiled a centralised wellbeing platform aimed at simplifying access to support resources.

Post Office said the surge in shoplifting and violent incidents, documented in the 2024 ACS Crime Report, has only intensified the demand for comprehensive support.

Keep ReadingShow less
Independent retailers face mixed outlook for 2025 – Bira
iStock

Independent retailers face mixed outlook for 2025 – Bira

Independent retailers have weathered one of their most challenging years in 2024, with multiple headwinds affecting the sector, according to the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira).

With pressures mounting throughout the year, independent retailers have faced an increasingly difficult trading environment marked by changing consumer behaviour and economic uncertainties.

Keep ReadingShow less