NEWS SPECIAL
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Aldi is extending its festive
HALF OF SCOTLAND MOVES DOWN A TIER
food donations programme
SCOTLAND’S FIRST MINISTER ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY THAT
to include New Year’s Eve.
AROUND HALF OF ALL SCOTTISH LOCAL AUTHORITIES WILL MOVE
Since 2018, the discounter
DOWN A TIER ON FRIDAY.
ALDI EXTENDS DONATIONS
has donated unsold fresh and chilled food to charitable causes on Christmas Eve. For the first time, it will now invite charity partners to collect unsold food on New Year’s Eve as well.
BAKKAVOR SEES SENSE Trade union GMB has celebrated a “massive victory” as M&S supplier Bakkavor has agreed to full pay for staff off work due to coronavirus-
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that essentially half of all Scotland’s local authorities will move down a Covid-19 restrictions level from 6pm on Friday. The move will see all 11 local authority areas currently in level 4 restrictions moving down to level 3 from 6pm on Friday. The local authority areas are: the City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian.
Inverclyde, Falkirk and Angus will move down to level 2 although neither Edinburgh nor Midlothian will be moved down a level. Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders will move from level 2 down to level 1 while all areas currently in level 1 will remain within this tier.
related absence and a rollout of mass testing at the Tilmanstone salads factory. The company has also carried out a deep clean of the factory after two Covid-related deaths amongst workers.
PUB PLEA The British Beer & Pub Association has backed calls for the £2bn of business rates relief that supermarkets have repaid to be repurposed into a comprehensive relief package for Britain’s struggling pubs and brewers.
SPENDING ON ESSENTIALS CONTINUES TO GROW Despite another challenging month, there were some bright spots in November as consumers spent 4.9% more on essentials with sales in supermarkets increasing by 17.9%, according to the latest data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions. Consumer spending declined 1.9% in total November as new restrictions took effect, yet festive shopping delivered a welcome boost for some sectors, particularly food and drink. Food and drink specialist stores,
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including local retailers, grew 54.3%, a 3.6% improvement on the previous month. A third of shoppers (32%) say they will make an extra effort to support their community this festive season, with almost half (48%) of those planning to buy Christmas gifts and food specifically from small and local shops. ‘Circuit breaker’ restrictions drove a 23.8% decline in fuel spend and the move to online shopping continued with a 97.4% rise as Brits went online to start stocking up for Christmas.
