Travel on the up & Twigworth Food opens
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Published 18 Feb 2022 in Phil's blog
The news this week has been dominated by the high winds of Storm Dudley and Eunice which are some of the worst storms the country has seen in recent times. I was due to visit a number of childcare sites on the South Coast, but this hasn’t been possible due to the extreme weather this time of year. I hope all our colleagues take care and stay safe during the windy weather.
Currently, in the middle of school half-term holidays for many, parents and families will be looking forward to those rewarding trips and breaks away. It’s something that’s been reflected in our Travel business with the first period of the year being around 20% higher than pre-pandemic figures, as people rush to secure bookings for the Summer. Consumer confidence has changed due to the relaxing of Government guidance for vaccinated travellers returning to the UK as well as many countries across the EU changing their vaccination status requirements. With like for like sales now at 119% compared to 2019 and increasing for a third week in a row, this is down to the testament of our hard-working colleagues. A big well done and a thank you to all the travel colleagues helping to support our members and customers. Have a look at some of the fantastic stories below.
Liz Davies at Stirchley Travel. Grateful Stirchley customers bought these in for our help in sorting out an issue with vouchers! They then booked a P&O cruise meanwhile too, which is a bonus!
The Walsall Travel branch dressed up for their Disneyland Paris focus event
Twigworth Food opens in Gloucestershire
Long-term Society investments continue this week in Food with the opening of the Twigworth Food store. Based in Gloucestershire, it builds on last year’s 4 investments in the area and creates 20 new jobs for the local community.
Continuing our trading area expansion, the store joins last weeks newly launched Blythe Valley in Solihull. A warm welcome to Store Manager, Sharon Williams and our new colleagues. I look forward to visiting very soon.
Celebrating long service
Colleagues are what make Midcounties such a great place to work and after each key milestone, we recognise this. Earlier this week, I was glad to join a number of colleagues who have now reached their significant long service milestones. Trevor Hemmings from Central IT has now achieved 35 years of service as well as Carolyn Doody from Oakengates Food. Graham Thompson from Wymans Brook Food also celebrated his 45-year long service award.
Trevor Hemmings from Central IT celebrating 35 years of service
Graham Thompson (centre) from Wymans Brook Food celebrating 45 years of service
The presentation of Carolyn Doody's 35 year service from Oakengates Food
An incredible achievement from you all and I thank you for your commitment, hard work and dedication. It was a pleasure to hear all the fascinating stories from down the years, congratulations.
Fairtrade Fortnight starts next week
A date firmly in our calendar each year is Fairtrade Fortnight. As a Co-op, we support many initiatives but one that has been there for over 25 years is our support for Fairtrade and the producers of products like tea and coffee. Starting next week, we will showcase everything that is great about Fairtrade and how climate change is making a serious impact on their livelihoods.
As part of the Fortnight, we also have a special Your Co-op Conversation with guest Brad Hill on 23 February, which I encourage you all to join. Brad is a Fairtrade co-op pioneer through and through and has been one of the main champions through our co-op movement in the UK. Over 20 years he has been behind the Co-op’s ethical and responsible retailing agendas, making a substantial change in our stores and the approach to Fairtrade in the UK. If you would like to find out more about Fairtrade and join this great conversation, click here.
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