Wholesaler Parfetts is supporting its expansion plans in the South West by appointing Duncan Jelfs as regional business manager.
The move marks a significant step in strengthening Parfetts symbol presence in the area. With 38 years of experience in the retail and wholesale sectors, Duncan brings a depth of knowledge and expertise to the role.
The symbol group includes Go Local, Go Local Extra, the off-licence focused, The Local, and the newly launched forecourt and transient format, Shop & Go.
Duncan joins from Appleby Westward–Spar, where he held the position of commercial director. He managed the sales team, marketing, and price and proposition in this role. Before this role, Duncan was head of franchise at Bestway Retail, where he successfully managed multiple accounts, including Bargain Booze, Co-op Franchise, and Costcutter.
Duncan commented on his new role: "I have always thoroughly enjoyed working with independent retailers to help develop their stores, sales, and profit. I look forward to continuing this passion with Parfetts and building our presence in the South West. The employee-ownership model at Parfetts means they continue to invest back into their customers and their team. It's a unique proposition in our industry, and we're already seeing strong growth across the UK."
Duncan's extensive experience and dedication to supporting independent retailers make him a good fit for Parfetts' mission to empower retailers and drive their success. His appointment reflects Parfetts' commitment to bringing in top talent to bolster its team as it continues its ambitious growth strategy.
Guy Swindell, joint managing director of Parfetts, said: "Duncan's years of experience and proven track record in the retail and wholesale sectors make him a fantastic addition to our team. He offers retailers in the South West unrivalled knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm, which will be invaluable in building relationships and expanding our presence in the region."
Parfetts operates a network of depots across England and Wales and has rapidly expanded its reach, offering retailers a comprehensive range of services, including digital solutions and next-day delivery.
Britain on Sunday became the first European nation to join a major Indo-Pacific trading bloc, in what has been hailed as the country's biggest trade deal since Brexit.
The UK is officially now the 12th member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The UK formally signed the accession treaty last year. Officials hope membership will boost Britain's flagging economy by as much as £2 billion a year.
The UK’s accession is estimated to benefit all UK nations and regions in the long run, relative to 2019 values, with boosts of £240 million for Scotland, £110 million for Wales, and £70 million for Northern Ireland.
According to government figures, the value of UK total trade in the 12 months to the end of September was £1.7 trillion.
"Agreements like this boost trade and create opportunities for UK companies abroad. This is a proven way to support jobs, raise wages, and drive investment across the country which is key to this government’s mission to deliver economic growth," business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said.
The alliance comprises fellow G7 members Canada and Japan, plus long-standing allies Australia and New Zealand, alongside Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Created in 2018, it has been seen as a bulwark against Chinese dominance in the region, although Beijing has applied to join.
The bloc, which accounts for about 15 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), will give British businesses trade access to a market of more than 500 million people, with the financial services, manufacturing and food and drink sectors in particular set to benefit.
"At a time of increasing barriers to trade globally, the UK’s accession to the CPTPP is welcome news for Chivas Brothers Scotch whisky business. Improved access to markets in dynamic regions like South East Asia and Latin America in a trading bloc which covers almost a fifth of the total value of Scotch whisky exports should help boost our £1bn annual exports," Jean-Etienne Gourgues, chairman and chief executive of Chivas Brothers, said.
The government said prices on consumer goods could also fall if savings are passed on by importers, with tariffs removed on items like fruit juices from Peru and vacuum cleaners from Malaysia.
The previous Conservative government signed Britain up in July 2023, with then business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch calling it "the biggest trade deal" since the UK left the European Union.
Britain has secured a number of post-Brexit trade deals, including with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore since it left the EU's single market at the start of 2021.
It is also pursuing one with Gulf countries, and last month Labour prime minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain and India are to resume stalled talks to agree a free trade deal.
A much sought-after trade deal with the US remains elusive and could become even less likely when Donald Trump enters the White House in January.
A deal with Canada has also failed to materialise.
The Post Office scandal continues to have a “severe” impact on the mental health and lives of the loved ones of victims, new research shows, calling on for tailored support for “secondary victims”.
Children (now adults), partners (including former partners), and other family members of those wrongly pursued by the Post Office, show high levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms as well as ongoing anxiety and stress.
This research indicates there is an urgent need for dedicated and tailored support for “secondary victims” impacted by this miscarriage of justice and the generational trauma that has followed as a result.
Experts examined the “ripple-effect” of harms on these “secondary victims”. As part of this work they used six clinical measures to gain insight into the impacts the Post Office scandal has had on participants’ mental health, life experiences, attitudes and beliefs.
The study was carried out by Dr Sally Day, Professor Rebecca Helm and Professor Richard Moorhead from the University of Exeter, Dr Emily Spearing, from the University of Western Australia and Dr Karen Nokes, from UCL. It has been shared with the official Inquiry, the victim core partipicant legal teams, and the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board.
Professor Helm said, “Our work suggests secondary victims of the scandal experience mental illness symptoms at worryingly high levels compared to the general population.”
At the end of the survey, participants were provided with the opportunity to share any further thoughts about the impact of the scandal. A total of 51 completed every part of the survey and 108 started it. Some indicated that they were not able to complete it due to acute suffering related to the scandal.
Clinical scales were not used to suggest or confirm medical diagnoses, but instead to develop knowledge of the variety and extent of possible harms caused by the scandal.
Many respondents met the clinical cut-off for post-traumatic stress symptoms (66.7 per cent of the 54 respondents answering the relevant questions) and depressive symptoms (69.8 per cent of the 53 respondents asking the relevant questions).
A total of 54.7 per cent of the 54 respondents who completed the anxiety-related questions met the cut-off point for requiring evaluation for high levels of anxiety (with 41.5 per cent of participants meeting criteria indicating severe anxiety).
Professor Moorhead said, “Our research clearly demonstrates how large the scandal looms in the lives of close family members of the subpostmasters and mistresses. The pain they live with is beyond sobering.
“Some family members told us they felt invisible in terms of accessing professional support services and experienced a lack of official recognition of their needs.”
The partners of those affected spoke of how lives had been “ruined” and futures altered by the impacts of the scandal. Children of former subpostmasters reported mirroring their parents’ strategies for coping, often feeling unable to disclose difficulties and access support.
Many reported feeling as if their childhoods had been “stolen” by the Post Office.
Respondents spoke of the care they hold for their family member who was a direct victim of the scandal, and how many live with a constant dread, fear, and anxiety that their family member was still at risk of having a serious mental health crisis, a nervous breakdown, and/or taking their own life.
Dr Day said, “This research highlights the ongoing mental health vulnerabilities generated from the scandal that families are forced to manage in their daily lives, largely on their own, and the potential for official responses to play a role in addressing some of the harm caused by the scandal.”
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Immigration Enforcement van parked at Stansted Airport in September 2022
An illegal worker in a Lincolnshire shop was paid less than £8 an hour, Lincolnshire Police say.
They discovered the man working at Vino Convenience Store on Metheringham High Street in October.
The police force says it has “no confidence” in the people running the shop, which is part of the Premier Stores group, and has called for its licence to be revoked.
The employee had arrived in the UK on a skilled working visa for health and social care and had briefly worked in a care home.
However, the man, who isn’t named in the report, had left that job and had no legal right to work in a shop.
The man told police he was paid £600 each month in cash for around 80 hours work at the shop, and never received a payslip.
This is around £7.50 per hour, much lower than the national minimum wage of £11.44 per hour for people over 21.
The premises licence holder is Vino Convenience Store Ltd, whose directors are Thanusha Kaliyaperumal and Sureshkanth Arumugam.
Mr Arumugam told police he believed the man had the right to work there.
Lincolnshire Police say he was “irresponsible” not to check and he “may have simply chosen to overlook the worker’s restriction to benefit his own cause”.
The man’s case has now been passed to the Immigration Enforcement Team.
Alcohol was found on sale at the shop without the required price markings, according to the report.
The force says it has also received “high confidence” intelligence that the shop sold vapes to a 14-year-old girl, who then sold them onto children aged between eight and twelve years.
A committee at North Kesteven District Council will decide next week (December 17) whether the shop should lose its licence.
The committee has the options to revoke, suspend or modify the shop’s licence, or not take any acton.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted Premier Stores for comment, and has been unable to reach Vino Convenience Store.
Two shops in Redditch have been shut down after investigators discovered they were selling illegal tobacco and vape products.
Trading Standards officers supported by West Mercia Police officers, served closure notices for Redditch Mini Market and Romanian Magazine on Monday (9).
Following court hearings on Wednesday (11) both shops received a closure order and must now cease trading for three months.
Officers from Worcestershire Trading Standards, West Mercia Police, and Redditch Borough Council used test purchasing and specially trained tobacco dogs to prove that the shops were selling illicit tobacco and vape products.
Since the start of the operation more than £100,000 of illegal tobacco products and nearly £6,000 of illegal vapes have been seized.
Police Sergeant Dave Roberts of Redditch Town Centre Team said, “Working with our partners we are pleased to get these closure orders at premises in the town centre who have persistently stocked and sold illegal cigarettes and vapes on the black market.
“The profits from such criminal enterprises are linked to organised crime groups so taking them off the streets has not only protected the public from unregulated products but also disrupted a wider network of criminal activity that can include the exploitation of vulnerable people.
“Furthermore, nearby retailers selling legitimate tobacco products and vapes have reported to Trading Standards their sales of these items and associated ad hoc sales of other goods are down as much as £500 to £3,000 a week in the past two years.”
Councillor Karen May, Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member for Communities said: “Trading Standards officers and West Mercia Police have previously found a small number of shops across Bromsgrove and Redditch where multiple seizures of illicit tobacco and illegal vapes products had taken place.
“We needed to take these steps and ensure they are stopped from selling these products in the future and protect residents from harmful products.”
Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion said: “This latest success in the fight against harmful illegal tobacco and vapes is a great example of what we can achieve together, to protect Worcestershire’s residents from the potential health harms of illegal tobacco and vapes.
“Decent law-abiding retailers must also be protected from those who seek to undermine their businesses with cheaper, harmful products. Let this be a warning to any other retailers illegal selling of harmful tobacco and vapes will not be tolerated in Worcestershire.
“I am committed to keeping people safe in Worcestershire and was delighted to support this project.”
Sugro UK, a member-owned buying and marketing group with over 90 members and a combined turnover of over £2.5 billion, has joined forces with its suppliers to support Dunelm’s “Delivering Joy” charity campaign.
Dunelm’s “Delivering Joy” initiative involves Christmas trees being placed within all UK Dunelm stores, decorated with tags containing gift requests from local schools, care homes, refuges and charities with which Dunelm has partnered.
Customers choose a tag from the tree and drop off the gift requested on their tag at their local Dunelm store, with Dunelm then distributing the gifts within the local community.
Sugro UK Head Office staff have enthusiastically embraced this fantastic Christmas campaign and supported its local Dunelm store, based in Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, with a grand total of 38 gift bag donations making a difference to 38 local individuals at Christmas this year.
Many of Sugro’s supply partners also got involved in the campaign and generously donated various treats including chocolate, sweets, and selection boxes. The Team at Sugro are incredibly grateful for all support from its supply partners.
Any additional food donations which Sugro UK were fortunate to receive were taken to the Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank Warehouse based at Blurton Methodist Church.
Emma Senior, Managing Director at Sugro UK, commented: “This was a fantastic initiative that the whole team could get involved with. I particularly want to mention Kate Durose, our Trading Executive, who bought this to life for us. She saw this in a local store and recommended that Sugro get involved.
"Not only did she organise us all, but she also engaged with many of our suppliers, who subsequently joined with us to support the campaign.”
Looking ahead, with its continued focus on business excellence and charitable initiatives, Sugro UK will keep supporting its Members and Supply Partners whilst driving growth, innovation, and community impact in the wholesale sector.