Restaurant owner, Luthfur Ahmed, said helping those less fortunate in the community was always something the Bengal Brasserie did during the festive season.

As well as confirming Christmas dinners, the restaurant is marking its birthday with a half-price offer all this week. All food items will be slashed by half until Saturday 29^th October.

Luthfur said: “We were unable to do our traditional Christmas dinners over the past two years because of the Covid pandemic but we did deliver to organisations looking after those most in need. We managed to get through that really difficult time only to be hit with this awful cost-of-living crisis.

“People are really struggling to make ends meet and my heart goes out to them. If we can help to ease the burden and bring some relief for them, then it will be all worthwhile.

“The Bengal Brasserie is part of the life and soul of the Ormeau Road and we’re looking forward to our birthday party when we will showcase some of the wonderful dishes our chefs will create for the occasion.

“Monday evening promises to be a great occasion when we can reflect on difficult times past and look forward to a brighter future for all our loyal customers.”

The post Bengal Brasserie in free Christmas dinners pledge first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Staff members got together to support Sharon as she took part in Brave the Shave – where she had all of her hair shaven off – for Macmillan Cancer Support. Sharon raised £3,422 for the organisation which provides care and services to families and individuals affected by cancer, including Sharon and her colleagues.

There was a great turn out from friends, families and customers, while local cake suppliers made generous donations of their bakes which could be enjoyed by shoppers in exchange for a donation to the team’s cause.

Sharon was overwhelmed with the amount of support she was shown; “The support from my team, our shoppers, families and friends has been incredible over the past few months, helping us raise money in the lead up to the big day.

“We chose to fundraise for Macmillan as mine, and our store charity representative, Leah Spratt’s, families have been directly impacted by cancer and we have seen first-hand the support that Macmillan give. They made my family feel supported, showing compassion and care throughout the diagnosis and always went the extra mile.”

Joanne Young from Macmillan Cancer Support commented, “This donation will go such a long way to help people affected by cancer all across the country and it is so appreciated by all at Macmillan. Braving the shave is not an easy thing to do and we want to extend a huge thank you to all the staff and shoppers for taking part and donating.”

To find out more about Macmillan Cancer Support, or if you think you could Brave the Shave, visit: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

The post SPAR manager Braves the Shave for Macmillan Cancer Support first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The partnership will see Craigavon-based United Wines handle all distribution for the whiskey through its extensive on- and off-trade customer base in Northern Ireland and the Republic – including more than 1,000 bars, restaurants, hotels, off licenses, cash & carries, regional wholesalers and national multiples.

“To say we are excited to have secured the exclusive distribution rights for Titanic Distillers Premium Irish Whiskey is an understatement,” said United Wines managing director Martin McAuley.

“To secure such a premium brand as Titanic Distillers is a real coup.  The whiskey itself is second to none but the plans that the company has for a distillery on the very site where the Titanic was built, gives the brand a uniqueness and an authenticity that is impossible to recreate.

“Irish Whiskey is the fastest growing spirits category of the last 10 years with sales expected to double in the next 20 years.  We’re really looking forward to working together with Titanic Distillers to promote this truly unique brand and product.”

This year promises to be a massive one for Titanic Distillers. having already secured one of the most globally recognised brand names on the planet, it has also submitted plans to convert the historic Titanic Pump-House and Thompson Dock into a new distillery and world class tourist attraction.

Titanic Distillers commercial director Stephen Symington said:  “We’re delighted to team up with United Wines as we launch Titanic Distillers Premium Irish Whiskey into the Irish market.

‘Great distilling tradition’

“We’re very aware that, in Titanic Distillers, we have a big responsibility as custodians of a huge historic global brand that is synonymous with Belfast – so we have laboured long and hard to develop and create a premium Irish Whiskey brand of which Belfast and Northern Ireland can be very proud.

“In the days before Prohibition, Belfast was once the largest producer of Irish Whiskey on the island of Ireland. We want to revive this great distilling tradition and bring Belfast back to the forefront of Irish Whiskey production.  What better way to do that than with an authentic brand that we feel embodies the very spirit of Belfast and of the workers who built the Titanic.

“We are now collaborating with stakeholders and funders, including Invest NI, on some really exciting plans for the Titanic Pump-House and Dry Dock which will only serve to reinforce this spirit.  We look forward to sharing these plans in due course.”

Titanic Distillers Premium Irish Whiskey, which is described as ‘full and rich with a smoky hint and a lingering finish’, is already listed in many of Belfast’s best-known pubs and hotels, including Bittles Bar, The Duke of York, Dark Horse and the Hastings Hotels group.

It retails at £34.95  for a 700ml bottle.

The post United Wines toast Titanic whiskey distribution deal first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Inflation and disruption to the supply chain, largely caused by Britain leaving the EU, have hit construction, retail and hospitality hard, a survey conducted by IHS Markit on behalf of Ulster Bank found.

And the NI Protocol’s creation of a new trade border in the Irish Sea has had some unexpected side-effects.

While goods moving from NI to Great Britain continue to have “unfettered access” the creation of an Irish Sea border has led to difficulties in moving goods from the other way, and to the Republic.

As a result, many businesses in Northern Ireland, which the Protocol keeps in the EU’s single market for goods, are trying to cut Great Britain out of supply chains where possible – and the exact same applies when it comes to businesses in the Republic cutting deals with NI firms.

Official monthly data from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office for the first quarter of 2021 showed Northern Ireland exports to the Republic up 60% to more than €1bn (£859m), while trade in the other direction was also up by 40% to €977m (£841m).

However, some aspects of the Protocol conundrum simply can’t yet be worked round with keen-eyed shoppers almost certain to spot them.

Just last month six supermarkets wrote to Brexit Minister Lord Frost, and Maroš Šefčovič, vice-president of the European Commission, warning the next phase of checks will drive up costs both for them and consumers in Northern Ireland consumers.

Representatives from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Iceland and Marks and Spencer wrote a joint letter to the UK government and the European Commission to highlight their concerns.

Those six retailers alone represent more than 75% of Northern Ireland’s grocery market, according to the British Retail Consortium, which co-ordinated the letter, which calls for action to prevent disruption to trade, so UK supermarkets can “continue to provide the people of Northern Ireland with choice and affordability”.

‘Less choice and higher costs’ 

Among the so-called ‘grace periods’ agreed by the EU to protect food supplies and to give retailers times to adapt was a delay to banning some chilled meat products from GB – including sausages and mince.

In June the EU agreed that controversial ban would not come into force until October.

Chief executive of the British Retail Consortium Helen Dickinson said: “The end to the Northern Ireland grace period looms in the mind of every British retailer with supply chains in Northern Ireland,.

“If no action is taken, then it will be the people the Northern Ireland, with half of the discretionary income of Great Britain households, who bear the brunt of this stalemate – meaning less choice and higher costs for essential food purchases.”

To read the full feature on the Drive-thru Revolution make sure to open the upcoming edition of Neighbourhood Retailer

The post Customers face Brexit double-whammy on prices and supply first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Campus Oil currently owns three service stations, in Dunshaughlin, Portlaoise and East Wall Road, and sold one of its service stations to Circle K last year.

Documents filed with the Competition and Consumer Protection commission show that Lissan Coal Company Ireland is now adding to its portfolio by buying Campus Oil Retail.

No acquisition price for the deal has been disclosed.

The post Nothern Ireland’s LCC buys Campus Oil service stations first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.