Positive - Neighbourhood Retailer https://neighbourhoodretailer.com The authoritative voice of the grocery industry in Northern Ireland Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:27:06 +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 Positive - Neighbourhood Retailer https://neighbourhoodretailer.com 32 32 178129390 Wilko apologises for saying staff could work with Covid https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/wilko-apologises-for-saying-staff-could-work-with-covid/ Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:27:06 +0000 https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/?p=20354 Retail chain Wilko has apologised for “some miscommunication” after it told staff they could continue to work if they tested positive for Covid. In a

The post Wilko apologises for saying staff could work with Covid first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

]]> Retail chain Wilko has apologised for “some miscommunication” after it told staff they could continue to work if they tested positive for Covid.

In a memo,  the company said staff with the virus could continue to work in stores if they felt well enough to.

Wilko confirmed the memo was sent out and the firm has since made a U-turn.

“When we get something wrong, we hold our hands up, admit it, and work to correct the situation,” the firm said.

Jerome Saint-Marc, Wilko chief executive, said he wanted to “reassure all our customers and team members” that the company’s advice to staff with Covid symptoms or those who test positive was to stay at home and avoid contact with others.

“As throughout our 92 years on the High Street, the safety and wellbeing of our shoppers and teams is at the heart of our business and we’re truly sorry for any understandable concerns our communications may have raised,” he added.

People with Covid in England are no longer legally required to self-isolate with all restrictions now removed, but it is still recommended.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, people are still asked to self-isolate after a positive test.

In Wilko’s initial memo to staff, the company, which has 414 stores in the UK, said: “If you test positive for Covid-19 and feel well you can continue to come to work, if you feel too unwell you can follow the absence policy.”

The post Wilko apologises for saying staff could work with Covid first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

]]> 20354 Northern Ireland Spared the M&S Chop https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/northern-ireland-spared-the-ms-chop/ Wed, 15 Aug 2018 13:44:51 +0000 https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/?p=9448 Recently, Marks and Spencer’s announced that they will be restructuring, with an aim to save £350m by 2021. Seven clothing outlets have already shut their

The post Northern Ireland Spared the M&S Chop first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

]]> Recently, Marks and Spencer’s announced that they will be restructuring, with an aim to save £350m by 2021. Seven clothing outlets have already shut their doors last week. Whilst the closure of over 100 stores across the UK isn’t welcome, there is good news for NI.

The upmarket retailer M&S has announced a major restructuring of its stores all across the UK. This has already seen to the closure of 28 of its stores and the plans will put hundreds of jobs at risk. Northern Ireland outlets, however, are safe from the axe, and the restructuring is avoiding the country.

PR contact for M&S in Northern Ireland, Sasha McKnight, has stated to Neighbourhood Retailer that: “Whilst 100 M&S stores will be closing due to the restructure, none of these stores will be in Northern Ireland.” While the news is still a blow for the retail sector as a whole, this is a great development for NI.

Worry throughout NI had started due to the closure of the Bow Street Mall M&S which has been announced for later in the autumn. However, this would appear to be a coincidental as Sasha advised that a new M&S store would be opening up in Craigavon later in the autumn.

August, 11 saw clothing stores in Falkirk, Kettering, Newmarket, Northampton, Stockton, Walsall and New Mersey retail-park in Speke will trade for a final day – while a Simply Food in Bayswater in central London will also close.

Three stores – in Darlington, Fleetwood and Newton Abbott – have already ceased trading as part of the phase of closures. More in Clacton, East Kilbride and Holloway Road in London are expected to close at a later date.

Speaking to The Guardian Steve Rowe, M&S chief executive, said: “There are likely to be more redundancies.” However, he said 86% of the staff working in the stores closed so far had been relocated within the business.

M&S’s chair, Archie Norman, said the size of the company’s store portfolio had become “a drag on our performance.” He went on to state that: “For me, the results in the next two years aren’t the most important thing. We are here to deliver a profitable, growing business in five years’ time.”

 

The post Northern Ireland Spared the M&S Chop first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

]]> 9448