A survey of 406 firms by Belfast Chamber found 71% are pessimistic about the city’s short-term prospects.

It’s the latest survey carried out by the business body in conjunction with Belfast City Council.

Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton said it paints “a pretty bleak picture” for business conditions in the city.

“Whilst trading and profitability have both been strong over the past six months, there has been a stark drop in confidence for the time ahead,” he said.

The survey found that firms are less pessimistic when asked about the prospects of their own business or sector.

Just 44% believe their own business will get worse in the coming next months, with 35% predicting similar trading conditions, while 20% expect an improved picture.

But pessimism surged when asked about the city’s prospects as a whole.

“With 99% of businesses seeing fuel and electricity costs rising and other costs also on the rise, coupled with a considerable number of issues around recruiting staff reflected in the survey results, it is easy to see why optimism amongst Belfast businesses has declined,” said Mr Hamilton.

Elsewhere, the new survey showed the very mixed experience of businesses under Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

One-in-three felt their business has been negatively disrupted by Brexit, while 30% said it had no impact.

Of the 106 Belfast businesses trading in the Republic, 36% reported increased profitability in the past six months and 42% of the 41 firms trading with the rest of the EU also reported higher half year profits.

Simon Hamilton said businesses in Belfast have continued to exhibit an ability to weather whatever storm they may face.

“Although it seems that the impact of the pandemic has receded, it has been replaced by a whole host of new challenges,” he said.

“I am always impressed by the business community’s capacity to adapt and innovate but it is clear that on top of every ounce of resilience they possess, many will need urgent help from both government and a restored executive.”

The post Majority of Belfast businesses worried about economic outlook first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

It was vital for retailers and suppliers to meet up face to face at Food Force Ireland’s Trade Day following a two year break, according to chairman Jonathan Crawford.

For the past two years, the key industry event has had to migrate online and the event at the Culloden Hotel and Spa on September 12 was the first time it has taken place in person since 2019.

“Last Tuesday was really important in terms of getting a chance to finally meet with our local suppliers again face to face after two years of not. These are the key account managers and shareholders within suppliers that wwe get to meet face to face once a year,” FFI chairman Jonathan Crawford said.

“So we were looking forward to getting back to that – we had a range of deals that Trading Controller Debra Johnston set up for the day and we went around placing orders for those deals with each of the suppliers, trying to pick up value that we could pass through to our own consumers.

“We’ve had two years there of not getting a day out of the business to lift our heads to see what else is available and there are lots of suppliers who had new ranges and exciting new products to show us. 

“That wee gap of a couple of years maybe gave us a wee bit more hunger to go and see that so that’s all a good thing.”

Fourth generation

Jonathan himself is a fourth-generation independent retailer, taking over Crawford’s of Maghera from his parents.

“We have been involved in Food Force Ireland since its inception really in the late ‘80s and I took over the treasurer role in 1999,” he says.

“My family supermarket has always been independent and Food Force Ireland was started as a group of independents which together formed a limited company called Food Force Ireland Ltd in the 1980s.

“Alastair Smyth from Limavady was one of the driving forces in it, along with Henry Emerson from Armagh, and they created the buying group to help negotiate with Northern Irish suppliers for independent retailers. So we were all owner managed and then pooled a central resource together that Alastair would have run.

“Then Alastair retired in 2000 and we employed a Trading Controller in Belfast to look after the role that he did and there was a board of directors around that.”

Growing movement

Since the year 2000, the group has gone from strength to strength, growing in terms of membership and revenue, Jonathan says.

“We tried to pool together on central deals with mainly Northern Ireland based suppliers – your household brands, the likes of Tayto, Ormo, Mother’s Pride and Punjana tea bags have all been central to what we do, what people buy in their shops in the province.

“The people in Food Force Ireland have evolved but the general memorandums and articles, and the core principles of Food Force are the same – it’s a group of independent retailers who pull together in order to share benefit among themselves. Nothing is kept by Food Force itself and any benefits that come through are passed through to the membership on an equal basis so that core belief has stayed there. It’s like everything, some of the people have come and gone but the principles are still there.”

Back in person

Over the last five or six years before Covid, the event has been held in the Culloden Hotel in Co Down.

“It’s great to get back to doing that again and actually having a place we can go to, rather than trying to do these things online,” Jonathan says.

“The other thing we do with this show that is quite unique – this is a free day we give to all members and all suppliers and that encourages them to bring their best deals with them.

“We’re not charging suppliers that turn up – there’s no tax through Food Force, if you like, so this is a day where they can bring their best deals and they will be passed through to the membership and that makes us unique as well.”

Supply chain

The unique approach of Food Force Ireland really paid dividends for members when the arrival of the pandemic disrupted supply chains, Jonathan says.

“A lot of us would have been buying from UK-wide wholesalers and when Covid came, they came under so much demand that their supply network just crumpled and didn’t work.  We were placing orders for 5,000 cases and getting 200 delivered – it was horrendous,” he says.

“But that local supply base that is operated in Northern Ireland with the likes of Punjana tea bags and the PRMs of this world and Tayto and everything… we couldn’t get Walkers crisps in from England but Tayto were on our doorstep every week, with whatever we wanted.

“So it was great to have those direct links – they were direct to store, they weren’t going through a warehouse somewhere. It was direct from the supplier to our back door in each of our shops and that really made a difference during the dark days of Covid.

Direct links

“The suppliers would come very early in the morning and leave off deliveries to our back door. We trusted them that they would leave off what was right, they trusted us that we wouldn’t have shortages.

“Our supply chains did work during that time which was great – we had toilet rolls when nobody else had. And that was really due to the way that we make our supply chain. If anything it’s a bit old fashioned and that worked during times of crisis.”

Many retailers have been experiencing a period of labour shortages but the pressure appears to be lifting somewhat, Jonathan says.

“That was tough – they couldn’t get drivers, they were having difficulties getting products picked in warehouses and that sort of thing.

“And of course we’ve got roaring inflation – the price thing is something that has always been an issue but the supply seems to have now seems to be sorted. We’re now getting the products we want from all of our supply base now. The cold chain, like meat suppliers, were having difficulty in their factories but I’m hearing less issues of that in the last few months.

“And maybe if we are entering recession and there are layoffs in other industries, the food industry tends to be bolstered at that time, because I can’t get a job in a hotel, but I can get a job in a meat factory or a processing plant. So labour shortages in our industry hopefully are easing.”

Energy costs

However energy costs have become a huge problem for everyone, he says.

“You just have to go into your local convenience store or your big supermarket and have a look at the fridges that they operate. Those fridges are operating 24/7 and they can’t be turned off, they can’t be turned down, they can’t be turned up. They’re a constant cost,” he says.

“We were paying 11p-12p a unit for electricity 12 -14 months ago and now we’re looking at 30p-35p going into the winter. It’s a threefold increase or more and there’s going to be more come January. That’s a set cost for all these stores and there’s really very little they can do about it.

“And of course people with oil heating or any form of heating in their stores are going to face a really bleak winter – I think we all know that.”

While many retailers have been turning to alternative options such as solar or to making efficiencies with measures such as installing fridges with doors, that can mean a sizable capital investment, Jonathan says.

“The ones who can afford to make those changes will do it, the ones who  can’t, I don’t know. It’s going to be tough,” he says.

“It’s not an optimistic time for any energy-heavy business, which we are. We’re energy heavy and we’re labour heavy. There isn’t a member of staff that doesn’t need an increase in their wages to cover inflation and we tend not to have too many members of staff that we don’t need.

“So again we’re facing increased operating costs and we’ve got a new Prime Minister who will have a lot of problems ahead of her and we’re all hoping there’s some sort of relief system to be announced.”

To read the full 25-page Special Feature on Food Force Ireland’s Trade Day, click HERE.

The post Retailers facing unprecedented pressures: Food Force Ireland Jonathan Crawford first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The post Supermarket push to cut waste hits food bank donations first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Ganderlytics is a proprietary analytics platform developed by Gander.  It empowers retailers to access and probe their data on all aspects of wastage at store, area, or head office level. The platform provides a comprehensive insight into ‘reduced to clear’ stock, wastage, store compliance, redistribution, and customer engagement.

Gander has partnered with many retailers and successfully reduced their food waste, improved their bottom line, and enhanced their sustainability credentials with their local community.

Through using Gander’s technology, retailers have improved their sell-through rates by up to 95 per cent, their markdown loss to 38 per cent, their instore compliance by 40 per cent and their shrinkage by 24 per cent.

The user-friendly interface makes it simple to see exactly what you want when you want. Ganderlytics also gives retailers a new view of customers’ locations, preferences, and searches, allowing them to make informed day-to-day operational decisions which aids overall sustainability. You can filter according to your needs, by store, area, date and metric, and track improvements by comparing different date ranges.

Retailers know what’s reduced on their store shelves in a matter of seconds and can tell whether these reductions are accurate and within policy times.

What’s more, the retailer can identify and understand reduction sales trends, move reduction times to improve margin and sell through rate and examine shrink and waste in more detail. Retailers can also opt to have a daily automatic redistribution list of any surplus waste products to share with their chosen charities.

Using Ganderlytics, many retailers have reviewed their policies with great success and one Gander customer improved their bottom-line profit from a policy change by 20%.

Stacey Williams, Head of Customer Engagement and Business Development at Gander, says: “Whilst our app has empowered shoppers, it has been fantastic to see it make a measurable difference to the retailers that have integrated our technology in store. Ganderlytics delivers a full 360 analytical view of retailers’ waste providing invaluable insights that otherwise just could not be seen.”

For more information about Gander and Ganderlytics, simply go online via Gander.co.

The post Innovative app Gander using data to combat food waste first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The festive initiative runs from 26 September – 18 December, promising huge value deals on high demand products, including one week of double deals. Retailers taking part can be promised a significant spike in sales throughout the three months, with data from 2021 showing a 20% growth in sales from the previous year.

12 Deals of Christmas has become Henderson Wholesale’s flagship footfall and sales driving initiative for its stores, which sees the wholesaler invest around £1.7M to provide the cut price deals for retailers to offer shoppers.

Since its inception in 2016, retail sales have experienced growth of over 67% after generating over £5.9M sales in 2021.

The campaign takes on added significance this year as millions of households across Northern Ireland are feeling the effects of rising household costs, as the cost of living crisis continues to take a grip on the country.

Sara Murphy, Marketing Manager at Henderson Group says this was ever present when creating the campaign for 2022: “We have retailers in every city, town, village and community across Northern Ireland, whose shoppers rely on them to be trusted and provide value where they possibly can.

“This year we launched Mega Deals, where shoppers can take advantage of a vastly cut price, high demand product each week, which our research shows is helping shoppers with their essential shops through the week.

“Christmas is weighing heavily on consumers’ shoulders this year, so we are conscious that our deals will have quite an expectation to help towards that long shopping list for the festive season. 12 Deals comprises a total of 13 products across 12 weeks that can not only be stored away for Christmas but will also be useful for any day use in the run-up when budgeting is even tighter.”

Shoppers agree, with over 80% stating SPAR’s 12 Deals of Christmas campaign offers were better than supermarket prices*, with 71% saying the campaign would make them want to shop at SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores more often*.

Sara continued: “The direct feedback from shoppers, alongside the sharp sales growth over the past six years, shows this is a campaign that resonates and delivers for retailers. There is a deal for everyone, and the anticipation for the 2022 deals is great. We’re excited for them to land in stores in the run up to Christmas.”

Retailers will also benefit from a fully integrated marketing campaign, marking an investment of over £525,000 alone. TV ads will feature families who have gotten carried away with the deals, unable to resist a bargain, while adshels and 48-sheets will complement radio and social media activity, engaging with some of Northern Ireland’s most well-known faces.

Week one of 12 Deals of Christmas kicks off Monday 26^th September, with 10 and 12 packs of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta and Fanta Zero less than half price at £3.25. For more, visit spar-ni.co.uk.

The post SPAR NI’s 12 Deals of Christmas returns promising retailers festive basket spend spike first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.