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Waitrose to reintroduce free hot drinks for loyalty members
Waitrose loyalty scheme members will again be eligible to a free hot drink when they visit the supermarket as the initiative that was first introduced in 2013 is resurrected.
Two years after the introduction, the supermarket reminded MyWaitrose cardholders of the “etiquette” of buying a snack before they claimed their free coffee and by 2017 it was enforcing that customers had to make a purchase to take advantage of the offer. When the scheme is brought back next month, cardholders will be required to make a purchase and bring their own cup to claim a free americano, latte or cup of tea.
Waitrose has seen sales fall in recent times during the cost of living crisis. Last month, it reported sales falling 5% year on year in the first half to £3.6bn, with operating profit down by more than £90m to £432m. Budget supermarket Aldi now has almost double the market share of Waitrose, according to figures from Kantar.
The free hot drink offer is being reintroduced as Waitrose partners with Caffe Nero.
“Our customers loved the myWaitrose free coffee offer, so we’re really excited to bring it back, with premium beans from The Nero Roasting Company,” says Waitrose’s commercial director Charlotte Di Cello.
READ MORE: Waitrose to bring back free hot drinks for loyalty card members
Royal Mail will make up to 6,000 jobs redundant by August
Royal Mail has announced it will make up to 6,000 job redundancies by August 2023 and partly blamed industrial actions by workers.
Strike action has already cost Royal Mail £70m, claims the company. It has also seen lower volumes of parcels and delays in improving productivity.
Jobs are to be reduced by an estimated 5,000 full time roles by March 2023 and 10,000 by end of August 2023. This will require 5,000 to 6,000 redundancies by August, estimates the business.
A voluntary redundancy scheme will be put in place to attempt to minimise compulsory redundancy. However, Royal Mail’s former redundancy scheme will be scrapped, says the business.
“The financial position of the business means that our legacy voluntary redundancy policy, which offered up to two years’ pay, is now unaffordable,” it says.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents Royal Mail staff, are due to go on strike again later this month after three days of action previously this year. The union says the current situation is down to “gross mismanagement” of the business.
“The announcement is the result of gross mismanagement and a failed business agenda of ending daily deliveries, a wholesale levelling-down of the terms, pay and conditions of postal workers, and turning Royal Mail into a gig economy style parcel courier,” says CWU general secretary Dave Ward.
READ MORE: Royal Mail plans to make up to 6,000 roles redundant by August
BMW moves Electric Mini production to China
BMW says it is moving the manufacturing of its hatchback and small SUV electric Minis from Oxford to China.
It has insisted that Oxford will “remain at the heart of Mini production” and insists there will be no impact on jobs, despite the decision to move production of certain models to China. Electric Countryman Minis will also be produced in Germany from 2025.
BMW agreed a deal with Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motor in 2018. It says workers at its Cowley plant in Oxford will build the Mini Cooper three-door and five-door Hatch models.
The Mini Convertible will also be built in Oxford from 2025. A spokesperson for BMW says that it is “one of [the company’s] most important cars” and signifies its commitment to the Oxford plant’s future.
“Oxford plays an important role in the BMW Group’s production strategy, with its high degree of flexibility, competitiveness and expertise – also in the area of electromobility. There is no impact on jobs,” the spokesperson says.
The Oxford plant built the first electric Mini in 2020. The company has committed to all its cars being electric by 2030.
READ MORE: Electric Mini production to move from Oxford to China
Almost 1 million UK homes give up streaming services
The number of British homes with at least one streaming subscription has fallen by almost 1 million so far this year, reports The Guardian.
The newspaper reports figures from Kantar that show the number of homes with at least one paid-for subscription fell by 937,000 between January and September this year. Just over 16 million UK homes pay for at least one streaming subscription, with at least 5 million having access to the three most popular services – Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+. The combined cost of these services across a year is £300, says Ofcom.
The third quarter of this year saw big name releases such as Rings of Power and House of the Dragon being released onto streaming services. However, the number of homes with one subscription still declined by 234,000 in the period.
“The reason people are cancelling is the need to save money,” says Kantar Worldpanel global insight director Dominic Sunnebo.
“The most recent quarter saw two of the most anticipated releases of the year, they ranked as the top two most enjoyed pieces of subscription video-on-demand content during the period, and yet we still saw a continuation of the negative trend of the market getting smaller.”
Netflix accounted for almost a quarter of the households that changed or scrapped their streaming services in the third quarter. The streaming giant is launching a new ad-supported tier next month that it hopes will stem subscriber losses. Earlier this year Netflix reported a loss of 1 million subscribers between April and the end of June this year.
READ MORE: UK homes cancel streaming services to reduce spending
Pepsi Max launches first campaign under new international tagline
Pepsi Max has launched a campaign featuring football greats like Leo Messi, Paul Pogba and Ronaldinho, under its new international tagline ‘Thirsty for More’.
The campaign is led by film ‘Nutmeg Royale’ which celebrates one of football’s craftiest moves. The humorous video depicts some of the best players in the game being outwitted via the move. It is soundtracked by Fatboy Slim’s ‘The Rockafeller Skank’.
“We are so excited to share the ‘Nutmeg Royale’ football film with the world, as it is a true celebration of what Pepsi Max does best – have fun,” says senior director, global marketing Gustavo Reyna.
“When we decided to create this campaign, we knew the nutmeg was the perfect move to showcase. A nutmeg move is for the quick-witted, the ambitious, and fun-lovers that are thirsty for the thrill of the game.”
This is the first campaign to come under Pepsi Max’s new tagline ‘Thirsty for More’, which was launched earlier this month. The brand describes the tagline as encapsulating a “shared mindset” and says it celebrates the curious who pursue excitement. The tagline will be brought to life going forward through its products and content.
