Tireless work by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) Contact Centre has seen almost a quarter of a million pounds recovered from news wholesalers in 2024.
The latest figures show that £187,130 has been recovered in missing credits, missing vouchers and recharges, as well as money saved through waived deposits for news wholesale accounts.
A further £40,338 was recovered in restitution for instances of late supply or missing supply having an impact on home news deliverers, taking the overall total paid back to members this year to date to £227,468.
“Once again our Contact Centre has delivered for members," said The Fed’s National President, Mo Razzaq. "This is testament to the tireless work of the team, ensuring Fed members are not left out of pocket when things go wrong.
“The amount of money the team has recovered in 2024 is further proof that, for independent retailers, it really does pay to be a member of the Federation.”
Molson Coors Beverage Company on Thursday announced that it is taking a majority ownership stake in Zoa, the better-for-you energy brand co-founded by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Dany Garcia, Dave Rienzi and John Shulman.
Molson Coors said taking a majority stake will allow it to lead the entirety of Zoa’s marketing, retail and direct-to-consumer sales and development. The deal represents one piece of Molson Coors’ strategic ambition to expand its total beverage portfolio.
Molson Coors and Zoa first struck a partnership when the brand launched in 2021, and Molson Coors increased its stake in Zoa last September while also assuming a presence on Zoa’s board of directors.
“We’re building a winning portfolio that offers consumers choices across a wide range of occasions, and non-alc is a key part of that strategy,” said Molson Coors chief commercial officer Michelle St. Jacques.
“Zoa opens the door for us to participate in more parts of the day and incremental opportunities beyond our core business. We’ve built a strong foundation with Zoa over the past three years and we see a ton of opportunity for this brand to achieve its next stage of growth and scale.”
Zoa boasts a repeat purchase rate of 50 per cent and attracts new consumers to the energy category, with 30 per cent of Zoa buyers new to this space. The brand’s direct-to-consumer business is also a significant driver of sales and consumer visibility, including the brand’s position as a top 10 energy drink brand on Amazon.
As Zoa enters its next phase, Johnson will remain a visible face of the brand through the ‘Big Dwayne Energy’ campaign, social media amplification and more.
“Since day one, Molson Coors has shared our passion for Zoa Energy, and as a partner, they’ve been pivotal to bringing new consumers into the energy space with Zoa and keeping them coming back,” said Johnson.
“Zoa is all about crafting drinks that help our loyal and growing consumers show up as their best selves every day, and Molson Coors’ commitment to the brand will give it an enormous amount of firepower in the next phase of growth.”
Londoners are expected to spend an average of £352 on ingredients for Christmas lunch, festive snacks and nibbles, and all their drinks (both alcoholic and not) for the festive period, forecasts a new survey.
According to the survey of 2,000 Brits conducted by Very, Londoners are planning on spending more than £930 in preparation for Christmas this year, more than any other region in the country. The biggest spend Londoners will make is on food, expected to spend an average of £352 on ingredients for Christmas lunch, festive snacks and nibbles, and all their drinks (both alcoholic and not) for the festive period.
Those living in Greater London are also expected to spend around £306 on Christmas decorations for both inside and outside their homes, including a Christmas tree, door wreaths, and table decorations and centre pieces. Other expenses include board games (£72), Christmas crackers and party favours (£66) and tableware for serving guests (£72).
Following London in the big spender stakes are Northern Ireland and those in the North East. Christmas planning in Northern Ireland is expected to cost £800 on average, while in the North East, spend will average £768 across food, decorations and party supplies.
Those living in Yorkshire & the Humber are expected to spend the least on Christmas prep this year, an average of £562 in total. This includes an average spend of £157 on Christmas decorations, £261 on festive food and drinks, and £143 on things like craft supplies and tableware, reveals the survey.
Insights show that more than a third (39 per cent) of Brits plan to host some sort of Christmas event for friends and family, whether that be Christmas day lunch, a Christmas Eve cocktail party, or a Boxing Day buffet.
Those aged 25-34 are the most likely to host a Christmas event this year, with 56 per cent saying they are already planning for their event, followed by those aged 16-24 (47 per cent) and 35-44s (43 per cent), while over 55s are the least likely to host this year (30 per cent).
But while hosting might sound like a nice offer, it also seems to come with certain worries. Eight of the top 10 Christmas conundrums experienced by Brits centre around food – whether it’s balancing cooking times (28 per cent), cooking Christmas lunch (25 per cent), getting the perfect crisp on their roast potatoes (23 per cent), or simply not having enough food to feed everyone (23 per cent).
Huge amounts of counterfeit and illicit vapes, cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco cigarettes worth over £1.6million were seized in Lancashire late last month.
In one of the biggest Trading Standards seizures in Hyndburn to date, around 100,000 packs of illegal cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco, and hundreds of illegal non-regulation vapes, with a combined retail value of over £1.6million, were seized on 30 October in a joint operation with HMRC and Lancashire Constabulary from an empty trade premises next to a shop in Oswaldtwistle.
Counterfeit brands included Richmond, Benson and Hedges, and Lambert and Butler, as well as less familiar brands such as Manchester & Sovereign. Packaging used to manufacture counterfeit cigarettes was also seized.
Less than a week later, a sniffer dog has hunted down thousands of hidden illegal vapes and cigarettes as part of a crackdown at shops across Preston, in which the Lancashire County Council’s Trading Standards team joined forces with HMRC and tobacco detection dog, Sky, a working cocker spaniel from Wagtail UK, whose canines are trained to sniff out hidden compartments of tobacco, vapes and money.
She sniffed out illicit goods at all seven city centre premises that they visited and even indicated that there was tobacco behind a false wall, which officers broke open to find the goods inside.
Stashes of cannabis, together with illegal prescription drugs and antibiotics were also seized. Hiding places included hidden compartments and in backyards, while one trader threw suitcases full of tobacco on the roof to try to evade detection.
A total of 1,642 packs of illegal tobacco and 651 non-compliant vapes were seized during the operation on 25 October with five of the businesses in the New Hall Lane and Friargate areas.
Investigations are now ongoing, the council added.
“Our Trading Standards team go above and beyond in their pursuit of illegal vapes and cigarettes, with unbelievable outcomes,” Cllr Michael Green, cabinet member for health and wellbeing at Lancashire County Council said.
"Hiring sniffer dog Sky, who did a very thorough job, was a fantastic way of protecting residents from unsafe goods from unscrupulous traders. With the help of partners such as Wagtail UK, HMRC and the police, we can tackle rogue traders and find hidden illicit goods.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has on Wednesday announced the closure of its investigation into Unilever's environmental claims, noting the progress made by both Unilever and the broader fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector in ensuring transparent green marketing.
The decision comes after the CMA observed positive changes in Unilever’s product claims and the wider impact of its Green Claims Code, which has encouraged businesses to accurately promote their environmental credentials.
“Given these points, and the ongoing impact of the CMA’s work, the CMA has decided as a matter of administrative priority to close this investigation,” the regulator said, adding that it has not taken a view on Unilever’s compliance with consumer law.
The investigation into Unilever, launched in December 2023, sought to examine whether the company's environmental marketing met consumer protection laws. The CMA at the time said they are concerned that Unilever may be overstating how green certain products are through the use of vague and broad claims, unclear statements around recyclability, and ‘natural’ looking images and logos.
The CMA commenced a review of environmental claims in the FMCG sector in January 2023, examining a wide range of products which are essential items used by people on a daily basis and repurchased regularly, such as food and drink, cleaning products, toiletries, and personal care items.
The UK government’s generative AI chatbot has moved to the next stage of testing this week, making it easier and quicker for thousands of small businesses across the country to find information on GOV.UK.
Up to 15,000 business users will be able to ask the tool for advice on business rules and support, with the chatbot linked from 30 of GOV.UK’s business pages, such as “set up a business” and “search for a trade mark”. People with access to the trial can ask questions about tax and the support available to them.
A team of in-house data scientists, developers and designers are building the experimental tool using OpenAI’s GPT-4o technology which aims to help people more quickly navigate complex advice to understand what matters to them. In response, they will receive straightforward, personalised answers that collate information that may otherwise be spread across dozens of pages.
The results from the trial will determine the next steps which could include potential larger-scale testing. This could ultimately lead to the chatbot being rolled out across the full government website, made up of 700,000 pages.
The GOV.UK website attracts over 11 million users per week and is the best-known digital service in the UK according to YouGov.
The new trial comes as the science secretary’s department is shaping the new ‘digital centre’ of government to boost technology adoption across the public sector, taking a more experimental approach with emerging technology where appropriate as it does so.
“Outdated and bulky government processes waste people’s time too often, with the average adult in the UK spending the equivalent of a working week and a half dealing with public sector bureaucracy every year,” science secretary Peter Kyle said.
“We are going to change this by experimenting with emerging technology to find new ways to save people time and make their lives easier, as we are doing with GOV.UK Chat. With all new technology, it takes time to get it right so we’re taking it through extensive trials with thousands of real users before it is used more widely.”
After the first trial, which was conducted late last year, nearly 70 per cent of users agreed that the responses provided by the chatbot were helpful - where under 15 per cent disagreed. However, the first trial also showed that more testing and development was required to meet the high accuracy standards for advice and information on GOV.UK.
The government added that stringent safety measures and guardrails have been put in place, given the nature of this technology. Since the last test, the government experts have added ‘guardrails’ that help GOV.UK Chat detect which questions it should, and should not, answer. These include measures to prevent the chatbot responding to queries that may prompt an illegal answer, share sensitive financial information or force the chatbot to take a political position.