She is looking forward to the forthcoming Neighbourhood Retailer Awards after being invited as a guest of Camelot.

“A lot of people don’t realise what retailers have done through Covid, but we were open the whole time, we’ve had all the queues, all the trying to keep people safe and I think the trade have done a great job, I really do, and we deserve a wee night out,” she says.

“It’s been three years since the last one. We love to go and we’re being invited this year by Camelot – it will be lovely to be with them and see all the winners,” she says.

“It’s lovely to see all the retailers getting together and those who are up for prizes. It’s a really, really good night and I think everybody enjoys it. We’ve all been working really hard and running our businesses since lockdown and it will be nice to get a few glad-rags on and get the dancing shoes on.

“We’ve been in for the Awards a couple of times ourselves, such as Best Newcomer when we redid the Spar. It’s a good night for people and especially the guys who win – they bring along their staff and everybody has a great night out.

“We don’t get an awful lot of fun these days, but the compere is always fantastic and the awards ceremony is brilliant – it’s like the Oscars for our trade.

“I enjoy going to it to catch up with a few people that you don’t see year from year. It will be lovely to be there with Camelot because I’ve worked very closely with them – they’re a great bunch of guys and they always make me feel very welcome.”

Judith sits on the Retailer Forum set up by Camelot to hear views from its retailers, with representatives both from the multiples and the independent retail sector across the UK.

“A lot of the time you don’t get to see the other side of the coin but it has opened up for me just how much work Camelot actually put into operating the lottery,” she says.

“It just works automatically for us and it does drive sales for us and that’s why I believe they are a great company to work with.

“Looking on the other side of the aisle, it has made me just a bit more impressed with how much work they actually do. Everybody who works for Camelot is very committed to the National Lottery brand.”

Looking back on her own personal experience of the crisis, she says every week brought a different challenge.

“We were trying to juggle two queues, a Post Office queue and a shop queue – at the best of times that’s hard to do but at the time of a pandemic, it’s even worse.

“But my staff were great – they were just ‘Right, what’s happening today, what’s different, what’s new’ and we traded the whole way through. We shut a little earlier, we had a few issues with the Post Office a few times when we had to reduce hours because we only had one member of staff. But it was only a few times and we’ve been able to stay open the whole time.

“We got a lot of new customers that had never used us before and then realised it was a nice wee shop.

“It never ceases to amaze me how caring people are. One member of staff recently received a beautiful card and a bouquet of flowers because of their kindness to somebody.

“An older man fell on the other side of the car park and the staff went out to him. He came back in the other day to say he had no broken bones, he was ok and here’s a wee card with some money in it. It’s at times like that that you realise people would be lost without us.

“Sometimes the smaller independent shops, we’re like a big brother, we can put our arms round our customers and look after them. Our customers are like our extended family.”

Judith says the forthcoming awards feel like a sign that things are getting back to normal.

“That’s the good thing about the awards, once they’re over we all feel like the awards are back and we can start to think about Christmas and we can do all the other things that I think were put on hold for such a long time,” she says.

The names of the Neighbourhood Retailer Awards finalists will be announced in early September.

The post NR Awards are sign that life is getting back to normal: Judith Mercer first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Launching the Awards, the lottery giant says it’s looking forward to celebrating the fantastic achievements and hard work of all the nominees.

Almost 28 years on from the launch of The National Lottery, Camelot paid tribute to its retail partners and the support they provide.

“Over the years, in selling tickets to their customers, retailers have played an enormous part in the ongoing success of The National Lottery, a success that has led to over £46 billion being raised for Good Cause projects,” retail director Jenny Blogg says.

“In the last financial year (2020/21), 1,480 projects in Northern Ireland were awarded over £39.8 million of National Lottery funding, including: over £16 million for projects to support young people, £6.7 million for projects for the elderly and £5.2 million for projects to help those with disabilities.

“At Camelot, we continue to support our retail partners in every way that we possibly can, especially our independent retailers – who we know have found the past few years challenging.

“Working alongside Neighbourhood Retailer to acknowledge excellence amongst retailers in Northern Ireland, we have the perfect opportunity to help showcase the exceptional work of National Lottery retailers and celebrate all their hard work and contribution to society by selling National Lottery products.”

Judith Mercer, who runs a convenience store and newsagent at Cregagh in east Belfast, says she is looking forward to the Awards after being invited as a guest of Camelot.

“It’s been three years since the last one. We love to go and we’re being invited this year by Camelot – it will be lovely to be with them and see all the winners,” she says.

“It’s lovely to see all the retailers getting together and those who are up for prizes. It’s a really, really good night and I think everybody enjoys it. We’ve all been working really hard and running our businesses since lockdown and it will be nice to get a few glad-rags on and get the dancing shoes on.”

Judith sits on the retail committee set up by Camelot to hear views from its retailers, with representatives both from the multiples and the independent retail sector across the UK.

“ A lot of the time you don’t get to see the other side of the coin but it has opened up for me just how much work Camelot actually put into providing the lottery,” she says.

“It just works automatically for us and it does drive sales for us and that’s why I believe they are a great company to work with.

“Looking on the other side of the aisle, it has made me just a bit more impressed with how much work they actually do. Everybody who works for Camelot is very committed to the brand.”

Caption: Neighbourhood Retailer Managing Editor Bill Penton joins independent retailer Judith Mercer and Gareth Burnside from Camelot to launch the Neighbourhood Retailer awards

The post We team up with Camelot to launch the NR Awards first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Customers will be lining up to get their tickets thanks to the biggest-ever EuroMillions jackpot on Friday (15 July), swiftly followed by a Lotto ‘Must Be Won’ draw on Saturday (16 July) – with each draw offering a sales uplift of up to 171% and 117% respectively.

It’s not just the temperature in the UK that’s been soaring recently. Friday’s biggest-ever estimated £191 million EuroMillions jackpot has been on the rise for a number of weeks now, settling at a staggering £191 million last Friday after reaching its cap and making history.

National Lottery retailers can capitalise on the enormous amount of attention and weeks of UK-wide promotion this extraordinary jackpot has received by ensuring that POS for the draw is in a prominent position and reminding customers about the huge jackpot on offer to help drive sales. National Lottery retailers could benefit from as much as a 171% sales uplift from the draw.

And it doesn’t stop with the biggest EuroMillions jackpot in history. The sales frenzy will continue into the weekend, with Lotto also firing on all cylinders. The National Lottery’s flagship game has rolled to a fantastic estimated £11.6 million ‘Must Be Won’ draw on Saturday, presenting another fabulous opportunity for retailers to boost sales and gain from as much as a 117% sales uplift from the draw.

Camelot’s Retail Director, Jenny Blogg, said: “With two enormous jackpots totalling over £200 million across two days, this promises to be a hugely exciting weekend for both National Lottery retailers and players. Retailers can generate some excitement and drive those extra sales by chatting to customers about the biggest-ever EuroMillions jackpot and Saturday’s fabulous ‘Must Be Won’ Lotto draw, as well as making sure that their POS is well positioned.

“Those extra sales won’t only help those retailers’ bottom lines either, they should also add to the more than £30 million that National Lottery players raise for Good Causes each and every week.”

The post Biggest ever Euromillions Jackpot Plus Lotto draw creates huge sales opportunities for National Lottery retailers this weekend first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Including unclaimed prizes, £1,911.8 million was generated for Good Causes – an increase of £24.3 million on last year and the equivalent of £36 million every week.

The record amount was generated from sales of £8,090.7 million for the 2021/22 financial year (1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022), which also marks only the second time in The National Lottery’s 28-year history that ticket sales have broken the £8 billion mark. 

Camelot said the key to achieving these fantastic results is its retail partners. Making up almost 60% of sales, retail remains the largest National Lottery sales channel and Camelot continues to work closely with around 44,500 retailers across the UK.

Despite the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic in the early part of the year affecting both footfall and shopper frequency and, more latterly, the cost of living crisis slowing down retail recovery as consumers tightened their belts, Camelot achieved in-store sales of £4,674.2 million in 2021/22. As a result, National Lottery retailers earned £265.4 million in commission, the equivalent of around £6,000 per store.

Announcing the results, Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said: “Achieving National Lottery sales of over £8 billion two years in a row while maintaining very high levels of public participation – despite the challenging and changing external environment – proves that our strategy of offering great consumer choice in a safe and convenient way continues to be hugely successful. It’s also testament to the resilient, innovative and responsive business model that we’ve put in place over the last few years.”

The post Camelot Announces 2021/22 National Lottery Sales Results first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The retailer said: “The stores offer a range of products to meet the needs of customers, whether they are doing a planned top-up shop or making an urgent last-minute buy, with a big focus on food – from fresh ingredients to food-to-go.”

All of the items are from Poundland’s core ranges, including everyday groceries, snacks, household products, health and beauty, batteries, toys, stationery and homeware.

There will be additional ranges customers expect in a convenience store, including:  fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled and frozen food, extended range of bread and morning goods, beer, wines and spirits, fresh Lavazza coffee, hot pies and pasties and fresh cakes supplied by Poundbakery, extended range of vaping products from 88 Vape, nappies and formula milk, and Camelot lottery tickets and scratch cards (Kendray only).

The retailer says prices will be “identical” to larger Poundland stores.

If successful, the smaller format could give Poundland the potential to accelerate its growth and reach new areas that would not support a larger store.

Poundland’s transformation and retail director, Austin Cooke, said: “The launch of Poundland Local is a really exciting development and we hope customers are as excited as we are.

“While our Local format will have the ranges customers would expect in a neighbourhood store, they won’t have to pay more for that doorstep convenience.”

There are currently around 20 Poundland stores in Northern Ireland, with potential for the new local format to make its way here if the pilot proves successful – however a spokesman said ‘there are no current plans beyond the first two pilot stores at the moment.’

The post Poundland Local – No plans for NI yet first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.