BWG Foods has said that it is supporting its SPAR, EUROSPAR, MACE, Londis and XL retailers and their staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by promoting their upskilling through training and education programme. 'Our retailers and their staff are afforded access to a diverse range of courses delivered through a training partnership model, workshops and online e-learning.' the company said. All of the training programmes are industry certified, which are developed and delivered by professional trainers with significant retail experience. From March 2020 to date, a significant 1,800 BWG retailers, and their staff, have received industry-recognised qualifications from a series of courses and workshops facilitated by Retail Ireland Skillnet. Commenting, Peter Donohoe, chief people officer, BWG said, “Our retailers take their role as providers of an essential service to their communities very seriously and have continued to upskill throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We have worked closely with Retail Ireland Skillnet to provide excellent and important courses to our vast network of over 1,000 community stores and are thrilled that so many of our retailers and their staff have received their Certificates.” In total, 1,800 retailers and their staff, across 621 SPAR, EUROSPAR, MACE, Londis and XL stores received their official certificates recently.
Aldi Ireland has announced it has donated a further sum of €125,000 to Irish youth organisation Foróige, marking the end of their successful six-year partnership. The discounter noted that has been a supporter of Foróige’s Youth Citizenship Awards (YCAs) for the duration of their partnership. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic however, these awards could not take place in 2020 as planned and thus, Aldi has presented the youth organisation with a cheque to the value of the YCAs. The Aldi Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards take place annually and recognise the hard work of young people who are actively involved in improving their local area. Making a positive impact on young people is a central part of the pledge Aldi make to supporting local communities and be “Better Everyday”, by contributing to a greener, fairer and healthier world. "The Youth Citizenship Awards looks to empower young people to use their talents and initiative to make a positive difference in their local communities," said John Curtin, group buying director, Aldi Ireland. "We hope this investment will help Foróige to continue the wonderful work they do for local communities every day around Ireland."
Smyths Toys Superstores will generously donate €60,000 to Children's Health Foundation again this year. Smyths Toys said that it is also proud to be the exclusive retailer for the Children's Health Foundation's Official Christmas Wish-List, a brand-new initiative for 2021. Created in collaboration with CHI play specialists, the Official Christmas Wish-List aims to bring joy, happiness and the magic of Christmas to sick children and their families in CHI hospitals. This December, Smyths Toys customers will be able to donate items from the list, or gift cards at designated drop-off sites in Smyths Toys Jervis Street, Swords and Blanchardstown. Sinead Byrne, joint head of marketing at Smyths Toys, said, “Smyths Toys are proud to partner again with Children’s Health Ireland to support seriously ill children from across Ireland, and we continue to be amazed at the work the charity carries out on a daily basis.”
Ivory Coast's cocoa board has allocated 161,000 tonnes of international contracts to local exporters this season, half as much as envisaged under a government decree to support local players, the regulator's chief said on Friday. In May, the government ruled that 20% of cocoa purchases by multinational companies should be fulfilled by local firms to improve competition in the world's largest cocoa-exporting economy. This would have amounted to 320,000 tonnes for the 2021/22 season, but the CCC realised many firms lacked the financial or logistical capacity to handle that volume, sources said in October.
2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more retail news click here. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
