Fed helps return £100k to retailers

The Fed has clawed back more than £100,000 for members who have suffered issues with publishers and news publishers in the past seven months alone, the highest success rate on record.

The Fed Contact Centre has achieved the figure each year for the past four years, mostly for missing or late papers, vouchers or credit. However, this year’s results suggest the Fed is on track to hit £171,000 returned to members by year end.

Based on approximately 9,000 calls about news wholesaler issues during the latest seven-month period, this equates to £11.11 returned to members for each call received. However, the largest single amount recovered for an individual member stands at £13,000.

Contact Centre man- ager Andrew Williamson said the team “leave no stone unturned when attempting to resolve an issue,” adding that Fed staff involved are “immensely proud” of the level of funds returned to retailers.

Fed national president Muntazir Dipoti added: “Every penny counts during these difficult trading times.

“The work that our

Contact Centre team does on a daily basis to get remuneration for members who would otherwise be unfairly out of pocket is exemplary and much appreciated.”

The latest complaints level data from Smiths News and Menzies suggests the Fed is receiving double the number of news wholesaler service complaints as the two wholesalers themselves.

The Telegraph has ended its six-month margin freeze, but percentage terms on weekend editions are still lower than before.

A Telegraph letter to stores said from 5 August, retailer terms on weekday editions rose to 20% (64p per copy), Saturdays to 19% margin (81.7p) and Sundays to 20% (64p).

For the past six months, stores were denied the benefits of the price increases, with the terms freeze costing a store selling 15 copies per day £108 in profit.

Last week, The Telegraph described the subs strategy behind the freeze as “a fantastic opportunity to work together”.

The Fed was not convinced, with a statement describing the strategy as “hugely disappointing” and driving stores to drop newspapers altogether.

Republic of Ireland

Vapes: recycle, not ban

A ban on disposable vapes in the Republic of Ireland would be “extremely detrimental” to stores, Fed Ireland president Martin Mulligan has warned.

In response to the Irish government’s consultation on the topic, the Fed acknowledged harm caused by the products, but called for recycling rather than a ban.

Mulligan said a recycling system “is a more effective way to reduce the environmental impact”. He added if recycling doesn't work, “we will happily support a deposit return scheme for vapes, just as we have for plastic bottles”.