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Lighter mornings and longer evenings are the perfect indication that spring is just around the corner. With flowers starting to bloom, trees growing back their leaves and the skies getting brighter, it’s certainly one of the most photogenic times of year.
With this in mind, photography expert Clare Moreton has shared her top five tips:
Look for colour in everything you capture – whether it’s fresh green grass, bright yellow tulips in your garden or the crisp blue sky, spring provides many wonderful colours that should be captured. Try to focus on bright colours that complement something a bit subtler, like white or green, as this will make your photos pop and allow the bold colours to stand out even more. that can make beautiful photos. Look for buds growing on trees in the garden, birds returning home or even spiders spinning webs. Spring embodies simple-yet-joyful moments that can truly make for amazing photographs.
1649: Oliver Cromwell abolished the office of King and declared England a Commonwealth.
1776: British troops were forced by George Washington to evacuate Boston.
1845: Elastic bands were patented by Stephen Perry at a firm of vulcanised rubber manufacturers in England.
1921: The first birth control clinic was set up in London by Dr Marie Stopes.
1938: Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer who defected to the West, was born.
1945: The Americans defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
1973: The Queen opened the new London Bridge.
1978: The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany, broke in half and spilled 220,000 tons of crude oil.
1983: Michael Dickinson, 33, achieved an unusual record as the trainer of the first five horses home in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
1989: Transport Secretary Paul Channon pushed the button that began the machine to bore the Channel Tunnel through chalk beneath the sea at Dover.
1995: The pound hit a record low against the German mark at 2.1890.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Britons are advised against non-essential travel to anywhere in the world as the coronavirus crisis grows.
Greggs has sunk to its first loss in 36 years as the Covid19 pandemic hit one of the stalwarts of the high street.
Bosses at the chain announced a pre-tax loss of £13.7 million in 2020, compared with a £108.3 million profit a year earlier, with sales dropping from £1.17 billion to £811.3 million as stores closed their doors for large swathes of the year.
The latest lockdowns and restrictions since the start of the year have hit overall sales, the company added, with like-for-like sales down 28.8% in the 10 weeks to March 13.
Stores have remained open for takeaways, as they are classed as essential retailers, but city centre locations and travel hub sites have seen substantial falls due to the stay-athome government orders.
Excluding sales in Scotland, where stores have been closed to walk-in customers for the majority of the year, like-for-like sales were down 22.4% during the period.
But the company said it remains positive for the future and has committed to opening 100 new stores this year.
Chief executive Roger Whiteside also revealed a new target to have 3,000 Greggs stores across the UK, up from the 2,078 sites already in operation.
He said: “There are 13,000 retail parks in the United Kingdom – we’re got a Greggs in 100 of them.
“There are 8,000 petrol stations – we’ve got a Greggs in 224.
“There are 2,000 large supermarkets in the United Kingdom run by the top three brands – we’re in 13.
“So we think there are plenty of new opportunities.”
Greggs also aims to open between eight and 10 drivethrus each year, although Mr Whiteside admitted opening them is harder because of the unique specifications needed for each site.”
But the majority of new stores will be in areas where Greggs is underrepresented and could also include locations that would have previously been too expensive as working patterns shift, leading to rents falling.
Mr Whiteside said: “The competitive landscape will weaken considerably, a lot of areas will go to the wall and new space is already becoming available with rents falling rapidly.
“Those are the areas Greggs will start entering.”
He added that delivery services and a partnership with Just Eat helped to offset some of the falls with 9.6% of total sales in the first 10 weeks of 2021 now coming via deliveries.
Growth through delivery will also come via more evening deliveries, with plans underway for a further hot food options.
Mr Whiteside said:
“What’s really interesting about delivery for us is that it allows us to compete in the evening.
“So one of the things that we’ve been experimenting with is how we offer more in the evening.
“The best example we’ve got is our pizza slices.
“We probably sell more pizza slices than anybody else in the UK, because other people sell whole pizzas and we sell slices of pizza.”
He added that during the pandemic, the company reverted to only offering best-selling lines, but innovation will return, following on from successful launches of its vegan steak bakes and doughnuts.
The chief said: “We see the move towards plant based alternative food as being a long-term trend that is here to stay and therefore there will be more vegan versions of best-selling lines that we launched.”