pension - Neighbourhood Retailer https://neighbourhoodretailer.com The authoritative voice of the grocery industry in Northern Ireland Fri, 20 May 2022 10:02:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-NR-SIte-Icon-2-32x32.png pension - Neighbourhood Retailer https://neighbourhoodretailer.com 32 32 178129390 Iceland to launch over-60s discount as cost of living soars https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/iceland-to-launch-over-60s-discount-as-cost-of-living-soars/ Fri, 20 May 2022 10:02:00 +0000 https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/?p=21336 Iceland is to launch a new discount for shoppers who are over 60, as soaring prices hit household budgets. The supermarket chain said it would

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]]> Iceland is to launch a new discount for shoppers who are over 60, as soaring prices hit household budgets.

The supermarket chain said it would offer over-60s 10% off every Tuesday to support its older customers through the cost of living crisis.

The move comes as supermarkets battle for customers, with prices rising at their fastest rate for 40 years.

Grocery prices were 5.9% higher in April than a year ago, according to research company Kantar.

Iceland’s new discount will be launched from 24 May, with anyone aged 60 or over able to use it every Tuesday in-store at branches of Iceland and The Food Warehouse.

Shoppers will need to show proof of age, such as a driving licence or senior bus or rail pass, and the discount will cover all products, with no minimum spend.

Iceland said it was the first UK supermarket to introduce such a discount and decided to do so after research by Age UK found three-quarters of older people in the UK were worried about the rising cost of living.

Last Christmas, Iceland also ran a regional trial offering £30 vouchers to those receiving state pension and the company said it was now exploring a national rollout ready for this summer.

Richard Walker, managing director at Iceland, said the chain had a “long history” of supporting older customers, including offering dedicated shopping hours for elderly and vulnerable people during the pandemic.

“The cost of living crisis has made support for these customers even more important, which is why I’m proud that we’re finding new ways to support them, including the launch of this discount. We hope it will help all those in this age category to cut costs where they can,” he said.

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]]> 21336 Morrisons wins out after weekend battle with EG Group for control of McColl’s https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/morrisons-wins-out-after-weekend-battle-with-eg-group-for-control-of-mccolls/ Mon, 09 May 2022 13:06:13 +0000 https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/?p=21107 Morrisons has triumphed in the battle to gain control of McColl’s Retail Group, one of Britain’s biggest convenience store chains, after a last-gasp offer to

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]]> Morrisons has triumphed in the battle to gain control of McColl’s Retail Group, one of Britain’s biggest convenience store chains, after a last-gasp offer to buy out its syndicate of bank lenders.

The supermarket giant saw off last-minute competition from filling station operator EG Group with an offer that will see McColl’s stores and workforce preserved in their entirety.

The deal will be structured as a pre-pack administration, meaning Morrisons will buy McColl’s immediately after it enters insolvency proceedings overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

On Friday, Morrisons said it believed there was no reason for the corner shop empire to be declared insolvent, but the pace of events over the weekend, with McColl’s teetering on the brink of collapse, left PwC with no time to finalise a solvent transaction, Sky News reports.

Morrisons’ commitments to the future of McColl’s include retaining all 1,100 stores and 16,000 workers, as well as honouring all of its outstanding pension obligations, an insider said.

On Friday evening, EG Group appeared to have sewn up a takeover of McColl’s, although its stance towards the company’s two pension schemes had begun to draw political scrutiny.

McColl’s lenders rejected a solvent rescue offer from Morrisons on Friday that would have involved them rolling over more than £100m of debt into the supermarket chain, but being repaid in full as the loans expired.

The lenders, which include Barclays, HSBC and state-backed NatWest Group, were seeking immediate repayment of their loans, initially leading them to favour EG Group

Confirmation of administration proceedings will make it the largest insolvency in the UK retail sector by size of workforce since the collapse of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group in 2020.

Since then, both Debenhams, which employed about 12,000 people, and Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, which had a workforce numbering roughly 13,000, have also gone bust, becoming casualties of changing retail shopping habits and the pandemic.

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