Despite being perhaps the most difficult of all the awards to judge, given the great lengths the local retailers have gone to during the Covd-19 pandemic, Asian Trader again arrived at two thoroughly deserving winners for the Spirit of the Community Award for 2020.
Retailer couple Asiyah and Jawad Javed of Day Today, Stenhousemuir, one of the two winners, have owned their store just four years but already become the tent-pole of their community, giving out PPE, delivering food parcels to the needy and their own Happy Meals to local children during lockdown.
The Facebook page of their Alloa Road store is a testament to how ingrained they are in their local community and the wider area. The small town of Stenhousemuir, which lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland, has an estimated population of just below 10,000, but the number of followers of the store’s Facebook page currently stands at over 28,000!
“This page is well known as a community page rather than the shop’s own,” Asiyah says with a laugh. “Everybody says if community needs help, just contact the page.”
In fact, they have been big on Facebook right from the start, and crossed the milestone of 10,000 followers just as they celebrated two years of the store in 2019; but it took just two months to reach the current figures, Asiyah says, as they started their Covid-19 relief measures.
The BBC team at Day Today, Stenhousemuir
“The word of mouth and everybody thought it helps, so everybody likes the page. Some people just liked it because we were generous,” she says, adding that it also helped that they were in the media. “Too much in the media,” she laughs again. “I can't tell you how many people came to the shop for our interview.”
Media spotlight
It all started when their Facebook post on the support to the elderly went viral after being shared by the LADbible website and American comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres. Soon,leading national media outlets, and several international ones too – including the likes of Forbes, Al Jazeera and Russia’s RT– came calling.
Asiyah is unassuming about all the media attention, but there’s something about the young couple that drew in followers on social media, and attracted journalists: perhaps best captured by their local newspaper Falkirk Herald, when it said the Javeds “symbolise the kindness of shopkeepers” in its Big Thank You note.
The family decided to act when Asiyah found an elderly woman, at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, crying outside a supermarket because she could not buy any facemasks or sanitiser.
“She was very upset that she couldn't get face masks and sanitizer, because of the shortage, but the youngsters are getting them quicker because they are traveling everywhere. And she said it is very expensive online. So that's when I decided to give it free to elderly people because I thought it was really unfair,” Asiyah recollects.
They started with £2,000 from their savings, putting together free “goody bags” for elderly people, containing a facemask, anti-bacterial hand gel and cleaning wipes, costing £2 each. They also delivered them free to elderly people who were unable to collect them in person. A typical day at the time meant the couple waking at 4am to buy stock and not getting home till after 11pm once they had finished delivering. As they worked round the clock, they even sent their children to their grandparents’.
The demand for the bags was consistent, and they saw support pouring in. Their supplier, United Wholesale, contributed £1,000 when they started. Customers have donated several hundred pounds, too, and volunteered to deliver the bags. And, the store received cards from across the country, often with cash in them.
Still, the generous deed cost them thousands of pounds of their own money. “We have given over £55,000 of stock since the pandemic started,” Asiyah reveals.
The involvement in the community has been the hallmark of the store since they took it over in 2017, and a prime reason for the success of the store, which was considered “jinxed” after failing to turn a profit under several different owners.
“We bought the shop which was closed for a year, and when we opened it up we gave free milk and bread to the elderly people because we thought it was hard to get at that time. Since lockdown we have increased our food parcels to over 100 parcels per week. These parcels are comprised of bread, milk, sausage, bacon, porridge, sugar, tea and tinned goods,”Asiyah says, adding that the pandemic experience has been a major inspiration for this.
“Everybody's got grandparents and elderly people in the family, they were all contacting us, from even further away. And, the NHS and carers were short of PPE at that time. So we supplied to them as well,” Asiyah explains.
Happy eating
They have provided free baby milk and free Happy Meals to local kids after the local fast food shop closed its doors. Last festive season, they provided free selection boxes for children, lending a helping hand to the parents who were struggling in the pandemic-hit Christmas. The store also handed out food packages to anyone who may be forced to go without a meal on Christmas Day.
Earlier in June, they offered free hot rolls to the homeless or vulnerable in the Falkirk area, and alongside Facebook posts, the couple put up posters across the town to make people aware of the gesture.
And late August, they did it again, delivering food packages for those struggling to buy food. A post on 29 August read: “If anyone is not working/not getting an income and runs out of food, or times are just tough … please don’t go to sleep with an empty stomach. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to send us a private message. We will be more than happy to share whatever we can. We will drop it off or you can collect from store.”
The loyal Facebook following has indeed played a big part in the success of the store, but Asiyah also credits the social networking site for the key role it plays in their community engagement, particularly to reach out to the elderly.
“When you want to spread the word you just put it on Facebook,” she says. “Even elderly people have Facebook. That's why we are more concentrated on Facebook, because Instagram, that’s for youngsters. The message we were trying to give was for elderly people.”
Mark Zuckerberg may not be fully pleased to hear that, but wouldn’t mind Asiyah’s horses for courses approach nevertheless,as both platforms belong to his stable.
Significantly, Asiyah adds that the community’s attitude towards the local store has undergone a sea change, which is now reflected in their sales.
“Our sales have increased due to the community, because people think that when they spend money here, they knew it will be going back to the community, even if it was ten times more expensive than the supermarket,” she says.
Asiyah hastened to add that they are not all expensive – “Our prices are very good,” she says – but the awareness on the part of the local community (that the money spent at the shop will be circulated in the community itself, and seeing the benefits it can bring when a local corner shop goes above and beyond), means custom has obviously increased for the store in the past year, and even as the restrictions have lifted, Asiyah says they see no difference is sales. “People are still coming from all over to spend money here.”
“Admittedly we have used our store as a local support mechanism for those in need, out of work and the elderly and vulnerable and make no bones about it. This has tied us closer to the local community and consequently seen the locals support us in return with their business,” she adds.
The store has also picked up on the trend for home delivery that has taken root in the country. The Javeds have launched a new website, Go Falkirk (gofalkirk.co.uk), which caters to a wider area than the store.
Delivering the goods
“Delivery has a future, we can see that,” she says. “We made the website during the pandemic. We promote it on Facebook, and if anybody needs anything, they can just order it online and get it delivered.”
They have employed two drivers, and Jawad also chips in to deliver orders. In store, they have three part-time and three full-time staff, besides Asiyah and Jawad.
“They're very good, everybody is very good, because they know what we do, and part of the team,” Asiyah is all praise of the staff. “So we look after them and they look after us. They have been with us through the pandemic.”
As industry warnings of a supply crisis have intensified over the past month – following a shortage of drivers and food processing staff due to the combined effect of Brexit and pandemic–Asiyah says they are already feeling the heat on the ground.
“Stock is the big challenge at the moment. Finding stock is not easy, we can’t do our cash and carry from one cash and carry at the moment,” she says. “We have been traveling everywhere, different cash and carries and different areas just to get our stock, because some of these have got one item and the other ones another item.”
Jawad is new to the sector, but Asiyahcomes from a retail background, as her parents ran a local store in Stenhousemuir, where she used to go after school, immersing herself in all aspects of retailing. So, when she says the future of convenience stores lies in the community, her statement has a certain authority.
Local police and ambulance teams applaud Asiyah and Jawad
“I think everybody should be doing something for the community, especially the elderly people. Small shops have been busy, but you do something for the community, they have all seen the community coming back to us,” she tells. “For us community is like a family now. If they need any help they message us. They know where we are.”
Helping the aged
Asiyah has particular concern for the old. “Elderly people who have no family or they stay far away, they need to have some help because they're all equal. And they are very important in your life,” she says.
She adds that both of them were brought up with strong principles of helping others who are less fortunate. “You feel better when you have a community,” she says. That’s what keeps her happy despite long hours and no holidays. “Customers should be seen like family. That's the best feeling in the world.”
And she sums up her mission: “Work hard, help everybody and be happy.”
Perhaps their greatest achievement during the pandemic is that local police and ambulance teams gathered outside their store to applaud Asiyah and Jawad, on a night normally devoted to clapping for carers. A testament indeed for how important their work has been for the local community, going way beyond the call of duty of a local corner shop.
Local shops will face significant new pressures as a result of today’s Budget, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget's impact will be felt unevenly across the UK’s 50,000 convenience stores, with some measures such as business rate relief and the increased employment allowance mitigating costs for smaller independent stores, while providing no help for chains and larger independent businesses.
The key measures for local shops announced by the Chancellor, and the costs for local shops associated with them, are:
National Living Wage to increase to £12.21 per hour
National Minimum Wage (18-20 rate) to increase to £10 per hour
Cost to the convenience sector next year: £7.739bn (increase of £513m)
Employers’ National Insurance Contributions to rise to 15 per cent
Threshold for Employers’ National Insurance contributions to fall to £5,000 per year
Employment Allowance to rise to £10,500 a year
Cost to the convenience sector next year: £397m (increase of £85m)
Retail and hospitality rate relief reduced from 75 per cent to 40 per cent
Small business multiplier frozen for 2025/26
Cost to the convenience sector: £267m (increase of £68m)
Total cost of main announcements (year-on-year difference): £666m
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “The cold hard facts are that the measures announced in the past 24 hours have added two-thirds of a billion pounds to the direct cost base of the UK’s local shops. At a time when trade is tough and operating costs are stubbornly high, this will be challenging for our members to absorb and there will be some casualties on high streets and in villages and estates across the country.
“Not all shops will be impacted the same. The smallest retailers, with low NICs bills and lower rateable values for their shops, will benefit from the welcome increase in the employment allowance and the retention of 40% of the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief. Retailers with a larger store, a number of sites or those operating a chain will receive limited benefit from these mitigations, and this will impact their ability to invest and to continue to offer services in the communities they serve.
The following additional measures were announced by the Chancellor in the Budget speech today:
Flat rate levy on vaping liquids from October 2026 of £2.20 per 10ml
Fuel duty frozen and the 5p cut extended for another year
A new commitment to tackling shop theft and funding directed to tackling organised gangs
Lowman continued: “The Chancellor’s commitment to tackling shop theft will be warmly welcomed by our members, but they are interested only in action and in crime against their stores and their colleagues being tackled effectively. We stand ready to help implement a new, and better-funded strategy to stop shop theft, abuse and violence against our members.”
Parliament is to launch an inquiry into delays in compensation settlements for sub postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.
The newly-formed Business and Trade Select Committee will call ministers, subpostmasters and their lawyers to give evidence next week with a second session to follow in mid-November. The Committee’s chair, Liam Byrne MP told ITV News that there was “definitely a delay” in people coming forward for payment.
“What we’re hearing from subpostmasters is that if there is an argument about how much should be paid out, the first offer is made quite quickly but if there’s a negotiation, that negotiation is dragging.
“We on the committee are going to batter away at this, week in, week out, until it is job done. All of us on our committee are frankly horrified and outraged by how long this has taken and we’re just not going to give up, ” he said.
Sir Alan Bates, the Post Office campaigner and chair of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, is expected to be invited to give evidence. Earlier this month, Sir Alan states that his own claim had not been addressed and that he had written to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer asking for his intervention.
“Like many of the groups, my claim has not been completed. It’s ridiculous. I am one of just many in this position. This is why I wrote to the Prime Minister at the start of October, asking that he instruct the department to ensure that all claims – and I’m talking about in the GLO group, the original 555 – have been completed by March next year," he said.
This comes weeks after the Post Office's outgoing CEO agreed the government is using the company as a "shield" over compensation schemes. Nick Read, who resigned last month, was giving evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry for the second day, with a focus on delays to victims' financial redress.
He also admitted that the compensation process has been "overly bureaucratic" and expressed "deep regret" that the Post Office had not lived up to delivering "speedy and fair redress".
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Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.
A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.
Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.
Ibrahim Mohammad, director of the Ibra Superstore, had recently applied to Rossendale Council for a new premises licence. But the borough’s licensing sub-committee rejected his bid after a meeting which heard allegations from the police and trading standards officers.
The Burnley Road shop has been subject to various licensing changes and concerns in recent years. In the past, it was called Bacup Wines.
Ibrahim Mohammad, the applicant, attended the Rossendale licensing sub-committe meeting with his father,Amin Mohammad. Also there was PC Mick Jones, of Lancashire Constabulary, and Jason Middleton of Lancashire Trading Standards. Councillor Bob Bauld attended as an observer.
Mr Mohammad wanted a premises license for alcohol sales and opening hours from 8am to 11pm, seven days a week. He already had a personal licence. He said the Bacup shop would install a CCTV system, keep an incident log and a refusals record, check customers’ ages, display information about staff and give them regular training.
Trading standards officer Jason Middleton said Ibra Superstore Ltd was incorporated as a company in April 2023. Since then, trading standards had received 11 complaints about under-age sales and carried out visits.
Breaches included non-compliant vapes being found which broke a 2ml limit on the quantity of nicotine-containing liquid, no age checks and no information on display.
During one visit, Amin Mohammad tried to leave with a bag containing 10 illegal vapes. In test purchases by trading standards, an ‘Elf Bar’ vape was sold to a 14-year-old by Amin Mohammad and an illegal Hayati Pro Max vape to a 13-year-old by Ibrahim Mohammad. The shop claimed a phone call distracted staff during the 13-year-old’s purchase and illegal vapes came from ‘a man in car’.
Councillors heard different speakers, looked at written reports and also some video footage from the applicant. But they rejected the premises licence bid.
Giving their reasons, they stated: “There was a repeated history and pattern of behaviour regarding under-age sales of age-restricted items, such as tobacco products and vapes to children. You must not sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18. This is a criminal offence which the council takes very seriously.
“It is clear you breached the law by failing a test purchase operation in which you sold an illegal vape to an under-age child. The sub-committee feels that you have no regard to the protection and safety of children.
“The sub-committee feels that there is insufficient management control at the premises. There is no credible system to prevent under-age sales of age-restricted products and no measures in place to avoid harm to children and to prevent crime and disorder
“Therefore, given the number of incidents, the circumstances surrounding the incidents and the fact that the matter involves safeguarding issues relating to young, vulnerable minors, we consider that the seriousness of the incidents and the crimes committed against young children undermines the licensing objectives to prevent crime and disorder, and protect children from harm.”
The shop has the right of appeal to a magistrates court within 21 days of the date of the notice.
SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.
Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.
It is a decision they have not looked back on, with sales increasing by up to 25% and margins also showing significant uplift in the last 12 months.
Key to the store’s improved performance is the complete overhaul of products available in-store, particularly the fresh food range, to better support people who live in Patrington and the surrounding area.
A new store layout and refrigeration, better Food To Go and meal deal options, a coffee machine, and a Calippo slush machine were also installed during a major refurbishment prior to launch.
Dara said: “Our move to SPAR has been excellent. We have seen fantastic sales uplift and the support from the team at James Hall & Co. Ltd has been brilliant. The £100,000 of free stock is the cherry on the cake.
“We have been very impressed with the Price Locked promotions, in particular. These give customers confidence to do bigger shops with us as they see value on our shelves and the products at the same prices for longer.
“At times over the summer when tourists and visitors to the area add trade, we have seen sales £6,000 a week higher than our average. This is against a backdrop of the popular caravan park in the village being closed almost all year.
“We are really pleased with the position we are in, and we will be looking to achieve more in 2025.”
Peter Dodding, Sales Director at James Hall & Co. Ltd and Chairman of the SPAR Northern Guild, said: “Congratulations to Dara and the Randhawa family on hitting their targets and earning £100,000 of free stock.
“We recognise switching brand is a big decision for a retailer which is why this isn’t a gimmick, and we offer this to all retailers who join the SPAR family with James Hall & Co. Ltd.
“As well as our £100,000 incentive, we also offer retailers the chance to achieve up to an additional £5,000 of free stock if they successfully refer a friend.
“These opportunities provide additional motivation to retailers alongside the comprehensive benefits that joining the SPAR brand brings with it.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
The government has on Wednesday announced its acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations on the rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).
The rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:
NMW Rate
Increase (£)
Percentage increase
National Living Wage (21 and over)
£12.21
£0.77
6.7
18-20 Year Old Rate
£10.00
£1.40
16.3
16-17 Year Old Rate
£7.55
£1.15
18.0
Apprentice Rate
£7.55
£1.15
18.0
Accommodation Offset
£10.66
£0.67
6.7
The recommended NLW rate is expected to equal two-thirds of median earnings and to have the highest real value in the history of the UK’s minimum wage. The increase in the 18-20 Year Old Rate narrows the gap between that and the NLW, in anticipation of the adult rate being extended to 18 year olds in future years.
“The government have been clear about their ambitions for the National Minimum Wage and its importance in supporting workers’ living standards. At the same time, employers have had to deal with the adult rate rising over 20 per cent in two years, and the challenges that has created alongside other pressures to their cost base,” Baroness Philippa Stroud, chair of the LPC, said.
“It is our job to balance these considerations, ensuring the NLW provides a fair wage for the lowest-paid workers while taking account of economic factors. These rates secure a real-terms pay increase for the lowest-paid workers. Young workers will see substantial increases in their pay floor, making up some of the ground lost against the adult rate over time.”
Stroud admitted that the data show some signs of employers finding it harder to adapt to minimum wage increases.
“The tightening of the labour market since the pandemic has unwound, but the overall picture is similar to 2019. The economy is expected to grow over the next year, although productivity growth remains subdued,” she noted.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
Good work and fair wages are in the interest of British business as much as British workers. This government is changing people’s lives for the better because we know that investing in the workforce leads to better productivity, better resilience and ultimately a stronger economy primed for growth.
The recommended increase in the 16-17 Year Old Rate restores that rate to its original value relative to the adult minimum wage. In line with previous recommendations, the Apprentice Rate will remain equal to the 16-17 Year Old Rate.