Having pledged a £60 million investment programme for 2023, Henderson Group was able to provide even more capital expenditure to its retail and wholesale infrastructure and technologies, their sustainable strategies and enhance their value promise.

Last year saw a total of 109 retail projects throughout the independent and company[1]owned estate of SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores, with Paddy Doody describing retention and recruitment as “excellent” with 12 new stores signing up to their brands in 2023.

The Group’s innovation, tech and sustainability achievements also took a step up in the last 12 months, as Mr Doody explains.

“We now have over 930 stores live with EDGEPoS (the point-of-sale software created by Henderson Technology) across the UK and Australia, more than one million electronic shelf-edge labels in use in over 200 sites and self-check-outs in nearly 200 stores,” explained Paddy.

“As part of our strategic Responsible Business pillar, we announced our partnership with bp pulse to install around 200 ultra-fast and rapid charging points at our Henderson Retail sites, with over 40 already installed by year-end 2023.

“We also switched on over 1,400 solar panels on our most newly built warehouse, and we continued to invest in value deals for our shoppers across the board.

“Our value promise was enhanced with a £7.8 million investment, with £3.5m of that invested into key areas such as milk, bread and eggs.”

In terms of performance, as of end of Q3 2023, Henderson Group’s turnover rose 9.4% on 2022 to £1.313bn.

‘Our value promise was enhanced with a £7.8 million investment, with £3.5 million of that invested into key areas such as milk, bread and eggs’

“Our Foodservice company continues to grow after a challenging few covid years, delivering a sales increase of 23.5% in the past year (up to end Q3 2023) thanks to their investment in tech and e-commerce repositioning.

“The business now processes almost half of its sales online, a strategy that has served both the company and its customers well.

“Our profits will once again be invested back into our business to create opportunities for our retailers, support our local fresh food suppliers and importantly, bring even more value to the shelves for our shoppers.”

HENDERSON RETAIL

Throughout 2023, Henderson Retail completed 35 company-owned store projects, and invested £30m into many of its flagship branded stores, allowing them to extend, update and renovate, including adding new services from new butchery and bakery counters to the new in-store production kitchen at EUROSPAR Victoria Road in Carrickfergus.

“We created 22,506 sq ft of additional retail space throughout the Henderson Retail network in the last year,” said Paddy Doody.

“With the accelerated change within the industry and shopper demands we prioritised updating our stores to include new food to go offerings with our Delish deli brand, extended to incorporate butchery counters, converted SPAR stores to EUROSPAR supermarkets, all to fit the needs of the communities within which they serve.”

Evolving to meet those needs is hugely important for the company, and Henderson Retail now operates 106 SPAR and EUROSPAR stores in Northern Ireland.

“We are a significant presence in many neighbourhoods and we need to provide quality services and products. The stores are quite literally the shop front of our business, they’re where our shoppers form their opinions on us and decide where their loyalties lie, so we need to be a community hub and I feel we are achieving that now more than ever.”

For their independent retailers, they saw 74 significant projects in 2023, including a new build EUROSPAR in Carryduff for the Mulgrews, as well as new build SPAR stores in Kesh, Rostrevor and Coopers Mill in Dundonald. Maxol also invested £2.4m to build a new 2,647 sq ft SPAR store at their Braid River site, which includes their second EV charging hub in NI, opening in December last year.

“Many of our independents are also bringing our popular Delish deli counter into their stores, plus extending their Barista Bar services, while taking advantage of our SPAR Bakery line,” added Paddy.

“Well-known retailers, the Knox family, rebranded all three of their Nisa stores in County Armagh and County Down to SPARs, and have another new SPAR opening in 2024. They’re all fantastic examples of building for the community around them. An additional 37,433 sq. ft. of retail space was created throughout the independent estate in 2023.”

Enhancing their value promise has been a key area of focus for the Group, and as Mr Doody mentioned, they invested £3.5m in key areas such as milk, bread and eggs.

CAMPAIGNS

Particular highlights included a successful second year of their Mega Deals campaign, and the biggest year of investment yet into the flagship deal campaign – 12 Deals of Christmas, which brings their retailers a huge sales opportunity in Q4 of the year.

“Throughout the year, EUROSPAR offers over a thousand products price matched to Tesco, while price drops on thousands of household essentials are available day-in, day-out.

“Another key target we met in 2023 was the previously mentioned switch on of 1,494 solar panels on our newest warehouse at our Group headquarters in Mallusk. They’re capable of generating 700,000 units of energy each year and is the equivalent of taking 309 cars off the road, an annual saving of 320,263kg in CO2 emissions.”

Having cemented their new partnership with bp pulse, and with over 40 chargers already installed, Paddy added some of their independent retailers have also switched on their own electric charging points at sites across the country.

“This will mean we are delivering one of Northern Ireland’s largest networks of EV charging points, a huge boost for the infrastructure here and those 18,000+ EV drivers we have in Northern Ireland.

“When it comes to independently owned stores, last year we invested £19.7m alongside our independent retailers to significantly increase the amount of retail space available at stores across Northern Ireland in 2023.

“In total, 109 significant retail projects – from new openings, conversions and extensions – were completed throughout our independent and company owned store network, representing a total investment of £49.7m.”

FUTURE-PROOF BUSINESS

Inevitably, the Group has faced the same challenges as other businesses, with the cost-of-living crisis and rising business costs continuing to put pressure on consumers and retailers alike. Amidst the ongoing Stormont stalemate, businesses are calling for politicians to return to work in order to provide some stability for the people of Northern Ireland.

“Like all industries and businesses here have stated, a functioning assembly is vital for people in Northern Ireland to make decisions for the people of Northern Ireland. Recent talks are indicating we are on the home stretch for the Executive to get back up and running, and we hope that is sooner rather than later,” said Paddy.

“When it comes to helping its retailers with the cost of doing business, Henderson Group is continuously innovating and trialling new concepts to bring improved cost efficiencies at store level, including self-check-outs, our EDGEPoS systems, electronic shelf edge labelling etc.

“We also co-invest with our retailers to help future-proof their businesses so that they can implement many of our innovations and reap rewards in the long-run.

“For the benefit of both our shoppers and our retailers, our level of investment in our value strategy will continue at the same level this year. We source locally as a priority which helps us drive down costs as well as keeping money in the local economy. Opening more EUROSPAR supermarkets in 2023 enabled us to bring even more supermarket offerings and prices to the doorsteps of our shoppers.

“We have stores in every community across Northern Ireland, and helping shoppers through the cost of living crisis is important, so we were also very proud to launch our partnership with FareShare in 2023, which saw SPAR donate £250,000, the equivalent of providing one million meals to its service users. Meanwhile, our Henderson Retail stores continued their foodbank donations throughout the year.

“At the tail end of 2023, we launched a Cosy Christmas giveaway, which saw 92 shoppers win £300 each at a time when they need it most. Our teams heard some stark yet heartwarming stories of who the money was going to and how much they needed it, and it reminds us that our stores really are hubs of the local community and while we cannot fix the root of this problem, we can certainly help to ease the strain for our shoppers and local communities.

“This is an ongoing problem which goes beyond our industry, however we will always strive to deliver on choice and value throughout our stores, support our local suppliers and our local foodbanks and community organisations.”

‘Henderson Group is continuously innovating and trialling new concepts to bring improved cost efficiencies at store level’

In the face of these challenges, the Group and many of their retailers have reaped rewards for their commitment and development, taking home awards and titles at some of the most prestigious awards ceremonies in the industry, something which Henderson Group is “really thrilled to see” added Paddy.

“Both our independent and company[1]owned stores swept the board at ceremonies such as the Retail Industry Awards and the Forecourt Trader Awards. Closer to home, our independents and company-owned stores were successful at the NR Awards, which as a local awards ceremony, makes it even fiercer competition!

“Awards aren’t just a mark of success but they’re a validation for hard work and a mark of respect from our peers in the industry. Our retailers are some of the most hardworking, forward thinking, innovative people in the industry, and why shouldn’t they be on the same par both nationally and internationally?

“On a brand level, it strengthens SPAR’s reach and reputation. It’s an opportunity for us to communicate just what having our brands above retailers’ doors can do for their business, and for the industry to see how we have diversified, how we’re engaging even more with our local communities, and how we’re strengthening our relationships with local producers and farmers. Awards schemes are essentially a showcase for great business and that is an important place to be for our retailers and our business.”

INVESTING IN BUSINESS

Looking ahead to what 2024 has instore for them, Paddy said the Henderson Group will continue to “invest, invest, invest”.

“We will invest in our retail partners, with whom we currently have nine major projects planned for 2024, representing an investment of £11m.

“33 of our independent retailers will also invest in their businesses, including that new build with the Knox family.

“From a company owned perspective, the investment will certainly continue with the team already working on 25 projects for this year.

“Our retailers can rely on our constant investment in our innovation, our technologies and our sustainability strategies.

“Part two of our solar powered warehouses project continues in 2024, with panels planned to be installed on Henderson’s Hyde Park warehouse, which will service Henderson Wholesale’s ambient range of products alongside the refrigerated Henderson Foodservice warehouse.”

When it comes to looking forward to the rest of 2024, Paddy says the industry is looking at decreasing inflation but still high costs relative to sales, energy and wages in particular. “We have an unpredictable political situation locally and in Ukraine and the Middle East, and there could be challenges around labour with low unemployment and high wage expectations which might impact staff recruitment and retention.”

With a workforce that has increased to over 5,000 staff, he added they have celebrated significant milestones with their independent retailers in 2023, with 15 retail partners celebrating milestone anniversaries totalling over 500 years serving their local communities.

Paddy finished: “We have a motivated work force and some of the best retailers in the world, many of those have been long-term partners of the Group, and we share our success with them and their achievements.

“They are pillars of their local communities, helping us bring value and provenance to shoppers, while supporting many charities and organisations. In 2023, alongside our staff and retailers, we raised over £700,000 for charity partners including Marie Curie, Cancer Fund for Children, Tearfund, FareShare and Action Mental Health.

“It is that spirit of partnership and motivation that will see their successes continue into 2024.”

TO READ PADDY DOODY’S INTERVIEW IN THE 2024 NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER YEARBOOK AND MARKETING GUIDE, CLICK HERE

The post Investment is key for Henderson Group first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

With its unique name, Lazy Claire Patisserie has been a talking point from the off, a play on words that continues to be a conversation-starter almost six years after opening. Specialising in authentic French pastries, Daniel knew he wanted to stand out.

“I had originally thought of another French sounding name but wasn’t sold on it. I wanted something fun and I knew we would be making eclairs as part of our main offering,” said Daniel.

“So, one night at dinner my partner and I were talking about a name and I can’t remember who mentioned “les eclairs” but when you say it out loud, the French pronunciation is nearly the same as ‘Lazy Claire’. That’s when the name was born and I knew we were onto something that would serve us well.”

Daniel began his pastry career at the former restaurant, No.27 Talbot Street. After it closed, he moved to Paris in September 2012, where he worked at the world-renowned tearoom and patisserie, Angelina. Having battled to get his visa to work, he worked at Angelina until September 2013, when he returned to Belfast and began planning on opening the most authentic patisserie in Northern Ireland.

“My experience in Paris was absolutely essential for our business model. Angelina at the time had at least six locations in and around Paris, so they sent items out to each shop in the morning.

“We were working on a very large scale and that was easy to scale down. But now that we are in our production kitchen, I have been able to expand back up with many of the same methods we used there.

“The production kitchen was always in my business plan from the very start. As I mentioned, Angelina had a massive production kitchen in the outskirts of Paris and I wanted something similar, although smaller! We were very limited in the quantities we could produce in our Castlereagh location and the timing finally worked in our favour to secure the location on the Beersbridge Road.

“Partnering with HSBC for a significant business loan, I fitted out the former butchers’ unit with all the equipment that we would need to increase both our current offering but also introducing some new items. This space allows for all the chefs to work at the same time without being on top of each other.”

Describing the early days after opening as exciting, Daniel added it was also tricky to determine how many pastries to make due to high demand.

“As with any new business we had to adapt constantly and figure out what worked well and what we needed to do better. Knowing that we were bringing authentic pastries to Belfast had been a goal of mine for a long time and the public responded overwhelmingly to what we were doing.

“Our business has expanded steadily over the past six years. Initially it was tricky getting in front of the public, mainly due to our location. But word of mouth spread and we gained a very loyal following and once the pandemic began, we had enough loyalty to keep us going.

“We pivoted from being a sit-in café to offering only takeaways, which helped with recognition since there was a queue out the door! After things settled down again, we continued to increase the quantities we were producing to keep up with demand. It was on the back of this demand that I determined that it was the right time to expand into our production kitchen.”

While corporate orders and catering are available, Daniel said they have no plans to add a wholesale arm to the business.

“We have been asked to supply wholesale from the very start, but I have always wanted to keep our offering in-house,” he explained. “This exclusivity allows us to deliver a very high-quality product since the pastries are made fresh on the day.

“Quality has always been at the forefront of our craft and that’s very hard to control once you pass that on to someone else. Will they store it correctly? Will they attempt to sell day-old pastries? The quality and freshness that we bring would be difficult to ensure when someone else stocks your product.”

With so much demand for the sweet baked goods, innovation is key to help keep people coming back for more.

“The most popular products in the bakery can change from week to week. Our customers are not afraid of trying something new and it can be really hard to pin down what our bestsellers are, especially when we nearly sell out every day!

“My personal favourite is either the Paris Brest, made with our homemade praline paste, or our newest Opéra cake with chocolate and coffee flavours.

“Coming up with new products or ideas can be tricky if I am pretty busy with the day-to-day production. However, I have found it much easier now that I have the space to work on my own in the new kitchen. But that challenge also comes with providing something innovative and that we haven’t done before.

“I try my best not to bring back past pastries, but if I can reinvent a favourite in a different way, this gives customers the flavours that they love. With so many holidays throughout the year, we always have to be on our toes coming up with something new, so I look at pastry magazines as well as Instagram for inspiration.”

With a team of four chefs including Daniel, there are also five front of house staff, all ensuring the smooth running of Lazy Claire Patisserie, with training offered at the start for their baristas to ensure they are all up to speed on customer service and coffee skills.

Their coffee supplier, Bailies also offers a training programme for baristas and that helps ensure that each one is performing to a great standard, Daniel added.

“For our chefs, training is pretty much on a daily basis. There is so much to teach and instruct on, so it’s very rare that they aren’t learning a new skill at least once a week.”

Indeed, with the opening of the production kitchen, Daniel has plans for another exciting development, offering customers the opportunity to expand their own skills by completing a pastry course.

“Our customers have been demanding pastry courses for as long as we’ve been open and I am very keen to offer this to the public. With TV shows like GBBO and Bake Off – The Professionals, the public are intrigued by and keen to know how pastry and baking works.

“I have also had some interest from fellow chefs who would like to learn more advanced techniques, so I would like to explore offering masterclasses as well.”

Inevitably, rising business and energy costs have had their impact, with Daniel saying that inflation and rising utility costs have definitely impacted them, and as their staff are also facing those costs, wages have had to be increased too.

“All of those costs have to be covered and we have to pass those along to the customer, unfortunately. But I have tried to keep those increases to a minimum so that we can still offer excellent pastries at value for money.

“It’s a fine balancing act of finding the same product that could be cheaper with a different supplier. While I absolutely would never use inferior products, I did find that one supplier offered a high-quality, own-brand chocolate at a good reduction in price.

“I am constantly looking at raw material costs and try to avoid expensive items if possible. And if we can make something cheaper than buying it in, then we absolutely will. For instance, we make our own marshmallows, hot chocolate and chai and this can help offset the higher costs of other items like vanilla and butter.”

Daniel added that for him, the biggest challenge is ensuring continued growth and maintaining their commitment to excellence throughout that.

“Many businesses can expand and scale up, but frequently it comes at an expense to quality and corners begin to get cut. Our dedication to high-quality pastries has never changed, but figuring out how to make more in the same space of time and with the same team can be very tricky to manage.

“Technology can assist in only so many ways before you lose the craft that a trained pastry chef will bring. We don’t rely too much on technology and still craft our pastries by hand.

“We do have updated machines to help with increasing quantities, but there is still an element of knowledge and expertise that needs to go into every step. Technology can help eliminate some steps, but it would take a massive production line to come close to the steps needed with most of our pastries.”

And it is these finely-honed skills that has led to some significant award nominations for Daniel, including Top 10 Pastry Chef and Best Chef nominations.

“I have been very honoured to have been nominated for a number of awards. Having my hard work and dedication to the craft acknowledged by respected partners is very rewarding.

“Although I have yet to actually win one of the categories, the growth our business has enjoyed has proven to me that it has been successful and that is the recognition that matters most.”

TO READ THE FULL LAZY CLAIRE PATISSERIE FEATURE IN THE 2024 NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER YEARBOOK AND MARKETING GUIDE, CLICK HERE

The post LCP – a slice of Paris in East Belfast first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Throughout 2023, 14 SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO retailers in Northern Ireland celebrated milestone partnership anniversaries with Henderson Group. The total came to over 500 years of retailing experience and commitment to serving their communities.

While some of our retail partners have been proud to display our brands above their doors for 50 years, many have been serving their local communities for even longer, through family businesses which have a passion for retail and locality. It’s incredible to look back at the evolution of their stores throughout the years, which are examples of how we as an industry must keep on moving – something more important in 2023 than ever.

2023 saw the completion of 109 retail projects across our company-owned and independent estate marking an investment of £49.7million. This included landmark store openings from the state-of-the-art EUROSPAR fresh foods superstore in Killyleagh, to extensions and renovations at some of Henderson’s busiest company-owned stores to update and introduce butchery and bakery, production kitchens and the popular Delish deli offering.

Henderson Wholesale continued to partner with independent retailers to build stores which deliver to the demands of that town and community, with Mulgrew’s EUROSPAR in Carryduff, SPAR Coopers Mill and SPAR Kesh standing out as significant new builds.

It means that throughout 2023, an incredible 59,940 sq. ft. of additional retail space was built by the Group and its partners to cater for Northern Ireland shoppers.

FUTUREPROOFING THE BUSINESS

Everything we do is with our retailers and shoppers in mind. We source 75% of our fresh produce from local farmers and suppliers, we invest heavily in deals and campaigns throughout the year, and we look to the future to ensure we are working sustainably so that we remain a robust business for our retail partners.

That futureproofing took a huge step forward in 2023 with the switching on of 1,494 solar panels which cover 75% of Henderson Wholesale’s fresh foods warehouse at the business’s headquarters in Mallusk. And at the end of the year, Henderson Retail announced a contract with bp pulse, which will see the installation of a new network of ultra-fast and rapid electric vehicle charging points throughout their 100+ SPAR and EUROSPAR sites.

Many of our independent partners are also leading the sustainability charge. Last year saw Maxol reveal the second of their Ultra Rapid EV Charging Hubs at their £2.4m Braid River SPAR in Ballymena, an impressive partnership investment that we strive for with our retailers.

When it comes to plans for 2024, the Group remains consistent with their intentions. We have always said we will channel profits back into the business and that is what we do year-on-year. We currently have significant investments planned for around 70 retail projects lined up for 2024 throughout our company owned, partnership and independent store network, including an exciting new build from the Knox family, a Nisa retailer who converted all three of their stores to SPAR in 2023.

Our business and our retail partners have stores in every neighbourhood in Northern Ireland, they are run by local people and employ local people. They get deliveries daily from local farmers, so money spent in those stores goes into that all-important circular economy here in NI.

TO READ MARTIN AGNEW’S INDUSTRY COMMENT IN THE 2024 NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER YEARBOOK AND MARKETING GUIDE, CLICK HERE

The post COMMENT: retail experience and community commitment from Henderson’s first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Trading since 1936, Finaghy was Creightons first store and now stands as a south Belfast landmark, with the Creightons name now synonymous with community retailing.

When WG Creighton opened Finaghy Garage in autumn of 1936, there were just a couple of pumps, however it has since grown to become a 3000 sq ft EUROSPAR store featuring a Post Office, deli, car wash and fuel store. And while the company has remained focused on brand building, it has done so by following more traditional values – building trust, focusing on community, finding their own solutions and being prepared to take risks.

Owned by Niall Creighton and his sister, Gail Boyd the company now extends to four sites, with the acquisition of JD Hunter Markethill in August 2022, but it was at Finaghy where it all began.

Boasting over 200 staff across the whole business, Creightons of Finaghy has approximately 60 dedicated staff members, including Store Manager Alan Gilliland, who started with the company back in 2006.

“Originally from a Post Office background, I joined as the Post Office Manager. We transferred an existing Post Office from one mile away into a brand-new location within the store,” said Alan.

“All the most up-to-date technology and new services helped us win the best Post Office in the whole of the UK in 2008.

“Over the years my role developed, to becoming the Assistant Store Manager and then the Store Manager when Balmoral opened in 2016. No two days are ever the same, there is always a new challenge to keep us busy.

“Working with such a great team though makes all the hard work worthwhile and I can honestly say I enjoy coming to work every single day.”

COMMUNITY AT ITS CORE

As Alan tells NR, the family-run business has a very strong sense of community.

“We try to give our customers everything that they may need on a daily basis and we focus heavily on seasonal events, bringing theatre into the store with our flower offering and seasonal displays,” explained Alan.

“Additionally, we support many charities from Cancer Fund for Children and Northern Ireland Hospice to our latest focus, the Trussell Trust Food Bank. This has proven a huge success with our customers filling a large wooden trough full of essentials, which is collected weekly.”

This support from their customers is made all-the-more important for Creightons, as they are all too aware of the challenges facing consumers. While inflation may be slowing down, prices are still high with consumers continuing to make some difficult choices and remaining more considered in their grocery shop.

“Our biggest challenge at the moment is still the cost-of-living crisis. People are definitely shopping smarter and being careful with what they spend their money on.

“Although our footfall is up and our basket spend is similar to last year, our overall costs are also up. With the latest increase in the National Minimum Wage coming soon, it is more important than ever to keep our loyal customers coming back day after day by offering value for money and great customer service.”

AWARD-WINNING ETHOS

This determination and commitment to helping and supporting the community has remained steadfast over the years, and when it came to entering the 2023 Neighbourhood Retailer Awards, they had their sights set on the most important one for them.

“When we decided to enter into the awards, there was one category that we were determined to win. Creightons of Finaghy has been part of this community since 1936 and all our staff come from the local community.

“We support the local schools, sponsor the local football team and the Food Bank etc. The whole team buy into everything that we try and do, so we really wanted this one as a thank you to all the staff and to our loyal customers who support us every time we do something.”

Judges for the Community Store of the Year award were looking for stores who have engaged with and supported the local community, providing a wide range of services and products to meet the need of their customers.

At the NR Awards gala night on 20^th October last year, host Donna Traynor revealed the winner had given details of how their long-term commitment and successful fundraising had established them as an integral part of the local community. This was done through a range of initiatives, events and activities designed to support local charities, groups and individuals.

The judges added that Creightons had demonstrated how they have reacted quickly to current issues and made efforts to provide targeted support.

Following their win, Alan told NR he had felt absolute joy at hearing Finaghy being named Community Store of the Year.

“This was so important to all the team, as we had worked hard all year with various groups and organisations in our local community to try and help in some small way,” said Alan.

“This has really inspired us to carry on and make 2024 even more rewarding and we will continue to work closely with those groups that we formed a bond with last year.”

INVESTING AND IMPROVING

This community ethos was front and centre of Alan’s and the teams’ minds during the pandemic, with everyone working hard to ensure the shop was well stocked and their customers felt safe when shopping there during tight covid restrictions.

“Trading has been very strong both during and since covid,” said Alan.

“Like all retailers, covid was challenging but we did all we could to make the customers’ shopping experience as easy as possible and like many others, we introduced a free delivery service.

“This was greatly received and strengthened our standing within the local community. Since covid, sales have remained high with our customers still preferring to shop with us, keeping it local.”

This has been invigorating for the store, with previous and recent investments a key driver in maintaining footfall and rewarding customer loyalty with more variety and fresher produce.

“Over the last five years we have increased the size of our fresh and produce offering, and installed new fridges to drive sales of Creightons own brand and Henderson’s Tonight’s Tea range.

“We also introduced three self-checkouts, allowing us to take away two of our manned checkouts. This allowed us to increase and improve our confectionary range, which has grown sales by 30%.

“We also created more of a gifting area, allowing us to develop this range more. This was very successful over Christmas and will be a major benefit at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter.

“The introduction of Shelf-Edge Labels, ASR and Relex has all helped to improve stock availability for customers and reduce staffing costs.”

Creightons has always embraced technology, using it to increase sales and efficiencies whilst also cutting costs, added Alan.

“Electronic Shelf-Edge Labels and self-checkouts are the best examples of this,” added Alan. “We are always looking at what is new out there and what other great retailers are doing for inspiration.”

TO VIEW THE FULL FEATURE ON CREIGHTONS OF FINAGHY IN THE 2024 NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER YEARBOOK AND MARKETING GUIDE, CLICK HERE

The post Creightons of Finaghy: synonymous with community retailing first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The vaping industry has had something of a rollercoaster year in 2023. Vaping remains the best tool available, by some way, to help smokers quit, but the issue of youth vaping remains a critical concern.

So much so, that the government is looking at possible restrictions on flavours and disposable vapes, which would surely damage vaping’s ability to play its current public health role.

The reputation of vaping has undoubtedly been damaged by misinformation and media scare stories. The facts are that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking and nicotine does not cause cancer and has been used in Nicotine Replacement Therapy for years and is regarded by the NHS as a safe treatment. However, largely due to misinformation, 40% of smokers believe vaping is as bad for them as smoking and are disincentivised from making a choice that could save their lives.

Against this backdrop in 2023, we’ve also seen a rise in the number of children experimenting with vapes, albeit those regularly using vapes did not rise significantly (ASH, June 2023).

The government’s reaction has been to consult on its twin goals of creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping.

‘NUCLEAR OPTION’

Among the measures now under consideration are new laws which, if passed, could restrict vape flavours, ban single-use devices, impose new vape taxes and restrict how vaping products are packaged and presented in store.

The ‘nuclear option’ of banning single use devices and flavours, while insisting that the products left on sale must be hidden away like deadly cigarettes, would in our view be in nobody’s interest – certainly not smokers or vapers who have successfully quit. What the government does next is critical for the future of our industry and for the public health of the UK.

In Australia, where vaping is only available on difficult-to-acquire prescriptions, restrictions have failed to curb adult vaping and instead fuelled a thriving black market and it is now estimated that 90% of Australia’s vapers acquire their products through illegal means and as many as 100 million illicit products are imported into the country every year. The Australian model was referenced by Wes Streeting in October as a possible Labour Party policy.

The UKVIA sincerely hopes that the UK Government will not go down this route but – as we pointed out in our response to the consultation – we strongly support new regulations which will tackle youth uptake while preserving the access of vapes to adults.

Not unsurprisingly, the issues surrounding youth vaping, environmental concerns and upcoming regulatory change were all hot topics at this year’s UKVIA Forum, the UK’s leading vaping industry conference. We had representatives from both Houses of Parliament speaking passionately about the huge potential from vaping for the health of the nation.

The answer to combat youth vaping is actually quite simple. We already have a law that says if you’re under 18 you can’t buy a vape; we now need to enforce it properly. For a start, we need to heavily penalise retailers who flout the law (we’re calling for £10,000 on the spot fines) and also set up a licensing scheme for retailers. Such a scheme would require retailers to meet certain conditions before they could sell vapes and for those who break the law, the ultimate sanction would be to lose their license and their ability to sell vapes to anyone.

‘BE VAPE VIGILANT’

In November, the UKVIA launched our ‘Be Vape Vigilant’ campaign, a nationwide initiative to identify and report rogue traders suspected of selling vapes to minors or stocking illicit goods. A surprisingly high level of incoming reports has shown that there is real demand to target those who fail to comply with the law.

The Be Vape Vigilant initiative is supported by Trading Standards, the Association of Convenience Stores and the wider retail sector, to mobilise legitimate retailers and the general public to highlight exactly where retail and wholesale outlets are selling vapes to anyone under 18 or supplying potentially highly dangerous illicit vapes.

Environmental concerns were understandably high on the agenda for the vaping industry in 2023. Far too many vapes are ending up in landfill and the vaping industry, regulators, waste companies and consumers need to work together to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to recycle them, but also consumer behaviour changes. Progress is being made, but this will no doubt continue to be a major focus for the industry in 2024.

2023 has seen a strong focus on production processes and quality control of manufacturers large and small, following news at the beginning of the year that some vapes had entered the UK market with more than the maximum legal e-liquid capacity. This was ultimately a net positive for consumers who can now have greater confidence that the regulated industry is working harder than ever to ensure it remains on the right side of the law.

‘Progress is being made, but this will no doubt continue to be a major focus for the industry in 2024’

It has also put the spotlight firmly on innovation, one of the areas where the vape really excels. It’s only because of many decades of painstaking and costly R&D that we have such a game-changing alternative to cigarettes that smokers actually enjoy using and are effective in helping them quit.

Vaping has had a turbulent year, but it’s likely that 2024 will be another year of change. The industry is desperate for government to enable Trading Standards to enforce the law and stop vapes getting in the hands of children; if they ban flavours or disposables, it will not only encourage an unregulated black market, but those who live in deprived areas with disproportionally high levels of smoking will be further discouraged from quitting.

The vape industry is not only a vital tool to improve the health of the nation, it also creates employment, supports local economies and provides vital income for the exchequer. With a general election looming and policy reform on the horizon, it’s certainly going to be another interesting year ahead.

TO VIEW THE FULL FEATURE FROM JOHN DUNNE IN THE 2024 NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILER YEARBOOK AND MARKETING GUIDE, CLICK HERE

The post A rollercoaster year for the vaping industry first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.