Talking Retail Grocery and product news for independent retailers
There was a palpable sense of relief in the room to be returning to some sort of normality, but of course out in the real world, things are still far from normal.
While the worst of the pandemic may be over from a public health perspective, the shock waves are still wreaking havoc across the rest of society. In recent weeks, retailers have had to contend with fuel shortages that have piled huge amounts of stress on those operating petrol forecourts and left others wondering how they will fill up their vans and get themselves to the cash and carry.
The shortage of HGV drivers also continues to disrupt supplies into wholesale and deliveries into stores, with milk and fresh meat suffering particular problems. Privately, most delivered wholesalers will admit their service levels at the moment are terrible – something that won’t come as much of a surprise to already hard-pressed retailers.
Thankfully, the government has finally relented and has approved temporary visas for overseas drivers, but the supply problems are unlikely to disappear any time soon.
In the face of all this, it would be easy to despair, but independents are nothing if not resilient. What was remarkable at the Retail Industry Awards was to see just how much innovation and investment is still taking place across the sector, with people refurbishing, rebuilding, developing new formats and coming up with creative new solutions to adapt their stores to the ever-evolving needs of their customer base.
The amount of energy, enthusiasm and positivity within this sector is nothing short of incredible. As an industry magazine, it’s an honour and a privilege to be able to shine a spotlight on some of our amazing retailers and, through, these awards, let them know their hard work is recognised and appreciated.
By David Shrimpton, Editor
