FURY OVER BOOKER CHARGES
Small shops are up in arms over ‘unfair’ delivery charges being imposed by wholesalers Booker.
Connel Village Store’s Sandra Jordan has already enlisted support from local councillors and heard back from MSP Jenni Minto and Argyll and Bute Council leader Robin Currie who have pledged to take it up with Booker.
From Monday February 28, a delivery fee of £29.95 will be added to each delivery for Premier and Family Shopper retailers and £34.95 for all other retail customers. Sandra says a minimum spend of £1,000 – before tobacco – is also being enforced, but only to shops, while hospitality businesses – from cafes to hotels – can have a minimum £100 spend and get their deliveries for no charge.
The changes will force Sandra to reduce her number of deliveries a week to just one and that will cause mayhem with changing staff shifts and with cashflow patterns.
‘Booker, which are owned by Tesco, are enforcing a £1,000 minimum spend, before tobacco, and a £35 plus VAT delivery charge, but only to retail customers. If you don’t spend £1,000 there is no delivery.
‘Catering customers, such as hotels and cafes, no matter how small or how infrequently they order, only have a £100 minimum spend with no delivery charge.
‘It is so unfair. Who supported them during two lockdowns and just now, in quiet times? I have spoken to a few small retailers and we all feel the same,’ she told The Oban Times.
And she added: ‘I’m just five miles down the road from Booker in Oban but am being charged exactly the same as other shops 100 miles away in the likes of Campbeltown and Strontian. It’s ludicrous and it has wrecked everything I do. Why are they penalising
small convenience stores like us? They are squeezing us out,’ she said.
Willie Dunlop, who runs Dunbeg Stores, is also furious. He said it could mean him having to lose a member of staff and having to cut opening hours to claw back the extra money that deliveries would now cost him.
‘For two years, convenience stores like ours kept Bookers going through the lockdowns when all the B&Bs and other hospitality places were shut. This is the payback and thanks they give us. They are hammering us. It’s pretty disgraceful. I don’t think anyone is happy with it.
‘We were told about the delivery charges out of the blue, just in a phone call with only four weeks’ warning.
‘Bookers are part of Tesco and if I wanted I could spend just £40 with Tesco and get a free delivery. It’s seriously damaging to small businesses like ours.’
Councillor Elaine Robertson said: ‘This is a totally unfair burden Booker is placing on small shops. It’s a directive that has come from Booker HQ with no leeway at all. This could have far-reaching consequences and may well mean the loss of our smaller shops. Our village shops offer a service much more than just being a shop. They are a community hub for many people – a place to go and meet others.’
Booker said it takes the changes very seriously and regrettably has been forced to take this difficult decision due to rising costs.
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