The Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed) has launched an exclusive benefits scheme for Fed members.
Called FedPlus, the scheme offers a range of discounts on a host of goods and activities, from everyday purchases to luxury products.
Through FedPlus, Fed members will have access to a range of fantastic money-saving benefits covering a wide variety of areas – from health and well-being to home and car essentials, and from food and drink to fashion and tech, entertainment, travel and experiences.
There is a Savings Calculator to show how much has been saved, based on monthly or annual spending, on a range of everyday categories. The Savings Calculator will generate a personal savings total and provide links to the individual deals.
Launching FedPlus, National President Mo Razzaq said: “In my inaugural speech at the Fed’s Annual Conference in June, I spoke about the importance of providing more benefits to help members make money, save money and make business easier.
“Just four months on, we are delighted to bring you FedPlus. This is an exciting new addition to our ever-growing list of member benefits which brings you quick, at your fingertips access to several offers across a wide range of categories so the money in your wallets and purses goes even further in these financially strained times.”
Members can access the scheme through thefedonline.com website. It went live yesterday (October 31).
FedPlus is managed and run for the Fed by Parliament Hill Limited, which has been providing benefit management solutions for membership organisations for the past 20 years. Top name companies offering discounts include Virgin Experience Days, Nuffield Health, Hotpoint, Halfords, Boots, Curry’s and EE.
Tom Sparke, joint managing director and client services director at Parliament Hill, said: “We are looking forward to working with the Fed to assist them in the fantastic support that it provides for its members.
“The Fed has a strong commitment to supporting its members, which aligns with the Parliament Hill ethos of placing the needs of our clients’ members at the heart of what we do.”
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East of England Co-op achieves 70 per cent productivity boost with Electronic Shelf Labels
Nov 21, 2024
East of England Co-op said it has improved labour productivity whilst improving customer service delivery in-store with an Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) solution from Pricer, the leading in-store automation and communication solutions provider.
Established in 1861, East of England Co-op is now the largest independent retailer operating in the East of England. In addition to the 120 food stores it operates in the region, the regional cooperative also offers customers specialist services, such as funerals, security, travel agents and petrol filling stations across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
Having announced the roll-out of Pricer’s ESLs to its entire store estate in March, East of England Co-op now uses Pricer’s solution, powered by its cloud-based Plaza platform, to centrally manage and control pricing, product information and promotions across all its ESLs.
Eliminating the need for manual updates, the ESLs deliver real-time price and promotions updates, reducing the risk of pricing errors and ensuring accuracy and efficiency in shelf-edge operations.
The solution also drives overall store efficiency by enabling store colleagues to focus their efforts on customer-focused and value-adding tasks that deliver store performance.
With the new ESL solution now deployed in around 40 per cent of its retail estate, East of England Co-op has already seen significant boosts to labour productivity, drastically reducing the manual effort of store colleagues in maintaining shelf-edge processes, including printing and tearing label strips as well as replacing paper labels.
Before it was spending tens of thousands of labour hours each year completing manual shelf-edge processes, now it estimates labour time that would have been spent on maintaining traditional paper labels has been reduced by 70 per cent.
This also allows store associates to focus time on customer-facing, service-oriented tasks to improved customer experience in-store. Additionally, the move to ESLs has also helped East of England Co-op reduced store printing costs by 50 per cent as well as saving paper use and waste from traditional physical labels.
“The standout aspect of our ESLs Programme is the collaborative spirit Pricer has fostered within the delivery team,” Stephen Lamb, head of program delivery, East of England Co-op, commented.
“This partnership has navigated the challenges of an intensive change programme, demonstrating resilience and adaptability while exceeding the original scope of price and promotion for tangible benefits. Built on a foundation of trust, the feedback from our Co-op technical teams, business units, store colleagues and Pricer highlights how we’ve worked together to seize opportunities.”
Peter Ward, UK country manager at Pricer, said: “We know driving labour productivity in-store is a key focus for retailers, who want to be able to leverage one of their most important and valuable assets – their store staff – to those tasks that drive the most value to customers. Through ESLs, East of England Co-op has freed store associates to serve, deliver efficiency gains and customer experience enhancement, whilst still achieving all the automated operational requirements to effectively merchandise and maintain the shelf-edge.”
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PayPoint delivers strong half-year results; retail network crosses 30,000 sites
Nov 21, 2024
PayPoint Plc has on Thursday has announced a robust financial performance for the half year ending 30 September, making continued progress towards achieving an underlying EBITDA of £100 million by the end of FY26.
The company’s UK retail network increased to 30,151 sites during the period, from 29,149 at the end of the previous fiscal year. 70 per cent of these are independent retailers, and the rest in multiple retail groups.
The group reported a 20.6 per cent year-on-year increase in underlying EBITDA, reaching £37.5m, and a 23.4 per cent rise in underlying profit before tax to £26.9m.
“This has been a strong half year for PayPoint where we have delivered a positive financial performance,” Nick Wiles, chief executive, said.
“The resilience of our businesses combined with the growing opportunities to deliver value-add solutions to our clients, continue to underline our confidence in building further momentum in our key growth building blocks.”
Wiles said consumer behaviour has improved from a slow start in April although remains subdued, with broader economic indicators demonstrating the continuing challenging environment for UK consumers.
“We are now putting greater focus on harnessing our enhanced platform through better connecting our increased capabilities and achieving greater collaboration across the business as a whole, opening up more revenue opportunities to the benefit of our clients and customers,” he added.
Total revenue rose by 6.7 per cent to £135m, with net revenue increasing by 6.0 per cent to £84.6m. PayPoint's Shopping division, a cornerstone of the business, saw net revenue grow by 2.5 per cent to £32.9m, supported by a 10.3 per cent increase in service fees. Card payment revenue also grew marginally by 1.2 per cent to £16.6m, despite a 2.8 per cent dip in total card processed values to £3.6 billion.
The UK retail network increased to 30,151 sites (31 March 2024: 29,149), with 70.0 per cent in independent retailer partners and 30.0 per cent in multiple retail groups
The E-commerce division reported the most substantial growth, with net revenue surging 56.9 per cent to £8.0 million. Parcel transactions soared by 47 per cent to 61.9 million, buoyed by the expanded Collect+ network, which now spans over 13,400 sites, with further expansion planned to support volume growth and the rollout of Royal Mail partnership.
The Love2shop segment saw net revenue climbing 7.4 per cent to £18.m. The division processed £67 million in billings during the period, reflecting the success of corporate API integrations and a restructured new business team.
The Payments and Banking division experienced a slight decline, with net revenue dipping by 0.8 per cent to £24.9m, attributed to the phasing out of legacy energy bill payments and reduced cash transactions.
The group has also introduced a new strategic focus, described as the “seventh building block,” which aims to connect PayPoint’s diverse capabilities across payments, rewards, gifting, and loyalty solutions to drive growth.
Despite the challenges posed by a subdued consumer environment in the UK, Wiles said the business remains confident in its growth trajectory.
“Our core characteristics of strong earnings growth, cash flow generation, and capital discipline, along with the continued growth across the group, give the board confidence in delivering further progress in the year and meeting expectations,” he said.
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Johnson & Johnson office in Irvine, California
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
Johnson & Johnson risks UK lawsuit over talc cancer claim
Nov 21, 2024
UK claimants announced Wednesday legal action against US pharmaceutical and cosmetics giant Johnson & Johnson, alleging that women diagnosed with cancers were exposed to asbestos in the company's talcum powder.
J&J risks UK court action for the first time over the allegations, having faced a series of similar lawsuits in North America.
KP Law, the firm representing about 2,000 claimants, said "women who have been diagnosed with life-changing and life-limiting cancers were exposed to asbestos contained within the company’s talcum powder".
In response Erik Haas, J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, said "Johnson & Johnson takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously and always has".
Haas added that J&J's own analysis found an absence of asbestos contamination in its products and said "independent science makes clear that talc is not associated with the risk of ovarian cancer nor mesothelioma".
J&J has until the end of the year to respond to a letter sent on behalf of KP Law's clients, following which documents will be filed in the High Court.
The law firm is representing predominantly women regarding the case, and says it has been contacted by thousands more, adding that some have died of their cancers.
Lawyers claim that the US-based corporation knew "as early as the 1970s that asbestos in its talc products was dangerous but failed to warn consumers and carried on producing and selling the products in the UK until as recently as 2022".
J&J said that Kenvue, its former consumer-health division that it separated out in 2023, is responsible for "any alleged talc liability that arises outside the US or Canada".
"Decades of testing by experts... demonstrates that the product is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer,” Kenvue said in a statement.
However, in September, J&J increased its offer to settle talc claims relating to ovarian cancer in the US to around $8 billion (£6.32bn) to be paid over 25 years.
Earlier this year, the company agreed to pay $700 million to settle allegations it misled customers about the safety of its talcum-based powder products in North America.
The company did not admit wrongdoing in its settlement but withdrew the product from the North American market in 2020.
The World Health Organisation's cancer agency in July classified talc as "probably carcinogenic" for humans.
A summary of studies published in 2020 covering 250,000 women in the US did not find a statistical link between the use of talc on the genitals and the risk of ovarian cancer.
(AFP)
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Glebe Farm Foods: 'best-in-class' for Food Safety Standards
Nov 20, 2024
Glebe Farm Foods has announced that its site has been awarded AA+ grade following the recent unannounced audit against the BRCGS V9 standard.
The BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard is a globally recognised certification program designed to ensure the safety, quality, legality and authenticity of food products. This was the first unannounced audit for the site and included all the production facilities; de-hulling, flaking and flour, oat drink manufacturing and Tetrapak filling, and new to the scope was the manufacturing and packing of Granola.
The audit covered not only the Global Food Safety Standard but also the BRCGS Gluten Free Programme. The recognition comes following a consistent dedication to excellence and the meticulous efforts of Glebe's technical team and supportive operatives, led by Glebe’s Head of Technical, Serena Woolland, who joined the manufacturer in November 2023, bringing with her a wealth of expertise.
As well as awarding Glebe Farm Foods Grade AA+, it also commended the company for its progress, British farming, investments and innovation, and the unwavering commitment demonstrated by its staff.
"The result is a testament to the hard work of our exceptional production staff and the technical team, keeping both site and systems in impeccable order," said Philip Rayner, Founder and Managing Director of Glebe Farm Foods. " At Glebe Farm Foods, we strive to deliver nothing but the highest standard – whether that’s in taste or product experience, sustainable practices, or food safety. We’re delighted with this status – but we were always confident we’d achieve it!”
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InPost launches Locker Shops in key urban areas
Nov 20, 2024
InPost, the leading provider of parcel locker solutions, has announced the next phase in its rapid expansion with the opening of new Locker Shops in key urban areas. Following the success of its first Locker Shop in Camden, InPost is accelerating its Locker Shop opening programme and targeting hyper urban areas where there is huge demand for its lockers to provide greater access to its parcel locker network.
Kicking off with new locations in London, including Liverpool Street and London Bridge in 2024, as well as Manchester and further London locations from 2025 as part of a strategic rollout.
InPost is leading the locker revolution as more and more people choose out-of-home delivery options. With over 8,400 locker locations across the country and demand continuing to grow the InPost Locker Shops offer a quick, easy and convenient delivery solution for consumers in busy urban areas.
InPost’s Camden Locker Shop pilot, which launched in April 2024, was a hit with London locals and proved the value of dedicated stores with a large number of locker compartments. Based on this encouraging response, InPost is now bringing the concept to even more areas. The new shops will feature InPost’s eye-catching branding with localised design elements to further engage with local consumers.
“The results of our Camden trial showed us that consumers love our InPost Locker Shops," said Neil Kuschel, CEO, InPost UK. "We know that locker lovers are seeking convenience - that’s the number one reason they’re choosing out-of-home delivery[ii] - and what’s more convenient than having a store in your neighbourhood? We are committed to making parcel collection and returns as simple as possible for our customers. By expanding our network of Locker Shop locations to more urban areas, even more consumers will now be able to pop in and pick up or drop off their parcels with ease, taking us one step closer to our goal of ensuring every consumer has access to an InPost Locker.”
Current locations:
5 Pratt St., London NW1 0AE
11 Wentworth Street, London, E1 7TB
Unit 4, Larch Court, Glass Boutique, Bermondsey Street, SE1 3GB
Full details of further InPost Locker Shop locations will soon be announced.
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