Last year, Circle K acquired 10 Griffin Group convenience stores across Dublin, most of which were in coveted city centre locations. It was an unexpected step onto the High Street for the forecourt giant which is well known globally for its fuel and convenience store.

But senior director of retail operations for dealer & franchise Derek Nolan insists the company is in no danger of forgetting its roots, despite its continued interest in the High Street, and rules out a similar move in Northern Ireland any time soon.

“This is an important and exciting development with Circle K, but it’s important to note that we remain hugely committed to fuel retailing and our network of service stations throughout the island of Ireland,” he tells NR.

Derek’s own area of the business – the dealer and franchise network – is growing quickly, with 243 sites across the island of Ireland where he works directly with independent retail partners.

“We’ve brought 15 new sites to the dealer network over the last 15 months. Our dealer partners look to the Circle K model as to what the future is going to look like, and an example of that would be around electrification and fuel quality,” Derek says.

“We have more than 14,000 stations globally and that gives us a good sound basis of understanding of the current market and what the future looks like.

“We currently have 49 dealer partners in Northern Ireland and we grew it by eight dealer partners last year. We’ve already seen another new site join since May, so watch this space because Northern Ireland is still a big area of opportunity for us.

“One big highlight recently was the Musgrave Marketplace deal which was a big opportunity for us – it was a big statement for Circle K in Northern Ireland that we went from five Musgrave sites to now 12 overnight.

“Musgrave are investing in a high number of these sites and we’re excited to be part of the big renovation at the site in Portstewart.”

To read the full feature, watch out for the next issue of Neighbourhood Retailer.

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As a knock-on effect from the cost-of-living emergency, businesses are seeing a fall in trade and customer levels. Coupled with raising inflation, a workforce crisis across the sectors, and remaining Covid pressures, many within hospitality and retail are struggling to remain viable with businesses shutting up shop every day.

Actions within the plan include:

• VAT to be reduced to 17%.
• Reinstate the reduced Tourism / Hospitality VAT rate to support businesses that rely on household discretionary disposable income and tourism spend.
• Restoration of the Business Rates Holiday which concluded in July 2022, running until April 2023.
• A UK wide reform of the business rates system to ensure online and out of town businesses are paying the same rate as high street businesses.
• Support from the UK Government for the devolved nations to reduce business rates by providing increased financial support through the block grants.
• The removal of VAT from energy bills to reduce energy costs.
• The Northern Ireland Executive to establish a Rural Town and Village Infrastructure Investment Fund to ensure our small and mid-sized towns and villages are supported during this economic crisis.

The action plan has been co-designed by Retail NI, Hospitality Ulster, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Bangor Chamber of Commerce, Ballycastle Chamber of Commerce, Ballymena Chamber of Commerce, Banbridge Chamber of Commerce, Belfast Chamber of Commerce, Causeway Chamber of Commerce, Lisburn Chamber of Commerce, NI Takeaway Association, Newry Chamber of Commerce, Newtownards Chamber of Trade, Omagh Chamber of Commerce, and Portadown Chamber of Commerce.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the 15 business organisations said: “We are at a critical juncture as a perfect storm of factors is causing devastation for the retail and hospitality sectors and could see thousands of businesses threatened over the next months if no action is taken.

“Out of control energy bill increases, labour shortages, inflation, National Insurance increases, and sky-high business rates – the highest in the UK – are risking the business climate of Northern Ireland. Fears that many will simply go under in the next months without government assistance are keenly felt and we cannot continue on this path of destruction any longer.

“We are pushing customers away due to having to raise prices to keep pace with these rising costs, which is therefore having a detrimental impact on trade and consumer confidence.

“Intervention is required by the UK Government, as well as the limited powers of NI Executive Ministers, to stave off the worst of this crisis on business owners and provide tangible support and resources that could keep trade viable.

“Our plan has achievable, tangible solutions that would support business from day one. Actions including a reduction in the VAT rate to 17% to encourage more households to spend on the high street; increased financial assistance through the block grant to alleviate the cost of business rates; and the implementation of the NI High Street Taskforce Report will help bolster business back to viable trading levels.

“We call on both Governments to consider our proposals and engage with the business community on how best to implement urgent actions that can alleviate these crippling pressures. It will support both businesses and consumers in this most pressing of times.”

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Data from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) and Sensormatic, which for meaningful comparisons are benchmarked against 2019 levels, show that the overall 14.7 per cent June decline is worse than the UK average of 10.5 per cent.

Shopping centre footfall dipped by 13.2 per cent in June (Yo3Y), further weakening on the decline of 12.8 per cent in May, while in Belfast was down 15.1 per cent, some 1.5 percentage points worse than May (only Carlisle and Leeds performed worse).

David Lonsdale, head of devolved nations at the British Retail Consortium and the spokesman for NIRC, said: “June’s retail footfall decline in Northern Ireland was out-of-line with the other nations in the UK, which all saw modest rises, compared to the 1.8 per cent fall here.

“But shopping centre footfall remained relatively static down by 13.2 per cent and consequently continues to outperform the rest of the UK on that metric.”

He added: “Belfast’s recent footfall improvement has come to a halt with a 1.5 per cent fall in June, which means footfall was down 15.1 per cent compared to 2019. This provides some early evidence the worries we saw last month on customer concern on the cost of living is being reflected in fewer shopping trips.

“Retailers will be concerned that the summer weather and approaching holiday season aren’t translating into increased shopper visits to high streets and shopping centres.

“And whilst they will continue to strive to attract consumers, there is an increasing need for an Executive is in place to take actions to support consumers through the cost-of-living crisis and to help the retail industry continue its slow recovery from the pandemic.”

Andy Sumpter from Sensormatic Solutions said: “June was a rollercoaster ride for the high street. This mixed bag of footfall performance will do little to allay retailers’ concerns as the cost-of-living and inflationary pressures continue to weigh heavy in the public consciousness.

“Retailers will be hoping that, even if consumers shop less frequently, they will be more considered in their purchases to drive up conversion when they do come into store.”

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Measures needed include agreement on a support package for struggling businesses, incorporating an extension of the current Rates Holiday until January, Retail NI said.

Commenting on the outcome of the Assembly Election, Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said: “The clear view of the broader business community is that an Executive needs to be formed immediately to tackle the huge challenges facing our economy and community with this cost-of-living crisis.

“To have no effective government during this crisis would be unforgivable and unacceptable.

“We need to see immediate discussions on an outline Programme for Government, a multi-year budget and agreement on a support package for struggling businesses.

“The support package must include an extension of the current Rates Holiday until January to help ease the burden on businesses.

“Make no mistake this is about saving jobs and businesses over the next months. We need immediate action and leadership from our political parties,” Mr Roberts said.

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