Black Friday provides welcome boost for Scottish retailers
Getty Images Black Friday came to the rescue of Scottish retailers last month as shoppers sought seasonal bargains, according to an industry report. The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) found total sales in Scotland increased year-on-year by 8%. However, it stressed that a portion of the growth reflected rising prices rather than increased volumes. Food sales […]
New Scottish-caught seafood added to ‘fish-to-avoid’ list
Getty Images A range of seafood caught off the Scottish coast has been added to a “fish-to-avoid” list compiled by conservationists. They include monkfish from the North Sea and west of Scotland as well as some species of skates and rays. Some sources of crab and lobster are also among 14 seafood options joining those […]
More calls for help for arts freelancers who ‘face using food banks’
PA Media Hundreds of musicians staged a protest outside Parliament in early October The government has been urged to do more to help performers and other arts freelancers as venues are shut again during lockdowns in England and Wales. Labour MP Chris Elmore told the House of Commons there were “growing numbers of freelancers, musicians, […]
San Francisco becomes first US city to ban e-cigarettes
Russell Hotten BBC News, New York Boston Globe via Getty Images San Francisco has become the first US city to ban sales of e-cigarettes until their health effects are clearer. Officials on Tuesday voted to ban stores selling the vaporisers and made it illegal for online retailers to deliver to addresses in the city. The […]
Band of Builders turns amputee Cher Little’s house into a home
Cher Little was left to live in just a single room in her home. A woman who lost both her legs to a deadly blood poisoning infection said she could not believe how a band of builders had changed her life. Cher Little thought she had Covid when she fell ill in October last year. […]
‘Recruit staff early to grow your business fast’
‘Recruit staff early to grow your business fast’ Kefir is a drink made from fermented milk which comes from the Caucasus and has been drunk for over 2,000 years. Natasha Bowes drank it as a child growing up in Russia and, after a sixteen-year career in financial services, she decided to try selling the drink […]
Labour calls for action on GB-NI trade disruption
John Campbell BBC News NI Economics & Business Editor BBC Labour has called on the government to take action to tackle the continuing trade disruption between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Some companies are struggling to deal with the requirements of the new Irish Sea border. The government says the flow of goods between Great […]
Supermarkets ‘to face day of reckoning’ on wages
Justin Parkinson Political reporter, BBC News Reuters Supermarket and shop workers deserve to be paid a minimum of £10 an hour after coronavirus, a union leader has argued. Paddy Lillis, of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), said retail “heroes” should be rewarded for risking their health to keep people “fed and […]
Fake pharmaceutical industry thrives in West Africa
Getty Images The counterfeit pharmaceutical industry is thriving in West Africa, with law enforcement agencies battling to crackdown on foreign-linked criminal syndicates, writes Emma Hooper. It is rare to have a conversation in Nigeria about the problem of falsified medicine without a mention of the My Pikin syrup tragedy. In 2009, 84 children were killed […]
Man who drowned in tanker ‘was a superhero’
Jennifer Harby & Victoria Hicks BBC News Leicestershire Police Gavin Rawson (pictured) died trying to rescue his 19-year-old colleague Nathan Walker The family of a man who drowned in a pig feed tanker while trying to save a teenager say he had no hope of escape. Gavin Rawson, 35, died trying to rescue Nathan Walker, […]