10 ASIAN TRADER 12 MAY 2017 http://www.asiantrader.bizNEWSFollow us on: http://www.twitter.com/AsianTrader Like us on: http://www.facebook.com/AsianTraderThe Bank of England has with-
drawn legal tender status of
the old paper £5 note, featur-
ing Elizabeth Fry – only the
new polymer £5 note is al-
lowed to received and given in
shops.
Retailers who still have pa-
per £5 notes are being encour-
aged to spend them over the
next month. Over 50% of all
Fry fivers have already been
returned and are due to be
destroyed, but there are still
around 160 million notes left
in circulation, says The Bank of
England.
Retailers exchanging cash
in stores and taking cash to
their banks are being urged to
remember that the new poly-
mer £5 note featuring Sir Win-
ston Churchill is now the only
£5 note with legal tender sta-
tus.
The Bank of England will
continue to exchange Fry £
notes for all time, as is expected
for any other Bank of England
note which no longer has legal
tender status.The new polymer £5 note
was launched as a cleaner, safer
and stronger replacement for its
paper counterpart.
Although polymer bank-
notes include a new genera-
tion of security features which
make them even harder to
counterfeit, retailers have re-
ported to Asian Trader that fake
£5 notes of the new polymerkind are in circulation.
Ranjit Mall of Wyken Wines
in Coventry has a fake ‘new £
note’ by his till side after his
staff were duped last month.
The counterfeit sits there as a
reminder to him and his staff to
check the new polymer notes
thoroughly.
“Retailers need to be aware
because we’re not used to this
new note yet and I didn’t think
fraudsters would bring a fake
version out so fast.”
In September this year, the
Bank of England will issue a new
polymer £10 note featuring Jane
Austen.Retailers can no longer
accept old £5 banknotes
Nisa celebrates 40th
year in retailing
Nisa celebrated its 40th year in the
retail industry with a stunning 70s
themed awards evening hosted by
veteran DJ Tony Blackburn. The
evening hosted at NAEC Stoneleigh
in Warwickshire on April 4 paid
tribute to members who have
demonstrated examples of retailing
excellence within the last year.
Milestone Nisa Extra, Rathfriland
was presented with the award for
Store of the Year (over 3,000 sq. ft.)
and Stevenson of Oxbridge took
home the award for Store of the Year
(1,500-3,000 sq. ft.)CCEP cans healthy coke
After sales went flat, Coca-Cola
have decided to pull the plug on its
Coke Life variety in the UK. From
June, the distinctive green branding
will be disappearing from shelves
two-and-a-half years after being
launched.
Despite being marketing as a
healthy alternative, sales fell by 58%
last year and CCEP bosses said the
decision would enable them to
simplify consumer choice between
sugar and sugar-free formats.
Coke Life contains a third fewer
calories than normal Coke.Four armed men raid
Wigan store
A female member of staff was
threatened by four men armed with
guns and machetes before the
thieves made off with a significant
amount of cash taken from a safe.
The raid took place in a Wigan
shop and CCTV footage released by
Greater Manchester Police captured
the event.
The incident took place at
around 6am on Tuesday April 4 at
a shop in Platt Bridge. All men
involved were described as white
with local accents and wearing
dark clothing with balaclavas and
gloves.Do you have a story for our
news team to investigate, or
would you like to comment on
any item of news? If so, ring the
Asian Trader newsdesk on:
0207 654 7792Shopkeepers notice an increase of circulation in ‘fake fivers’
ACS sets out election
priorities
The ACS has set out its priorities for
Government ahead of the election on
June 8th and called on the sector to get
involved to promote the work being done
by convenience store owners and their
staff in communities.
ACS’ election priorities for
Government focus on four key areas:
Reforming the business rates system;
Helping local shops employ and train
more people by reducing the cost of
employment, allowing more flexible use
of the Apprenticeship Levy and
depoliticising low pay issues;Increasing
funding for councils to deliver more
cleaning and litter structure; Tackling
shop theft by creating a uniform
reporting mechanism for local shops.GMB Scotland blames
UK for job losses
GMB Scotland has accused the UK
Government of ‘a gross betrayal’ of
drinks manufacturing workers
after Diageo announced plans
to cut more than 100 jobs across its
Scottish operations due to Brexit
concerns.
The drinks giant confirmed the cuts
are part of a review process which will
see selected white spirits production
moved to Italy and also to plants in the
USA.
The union previously warned the UK
government earlier this year about the
need for special measures to protect
Scotland’s drinks manufacturing sector
against the backdrop of Brexit
uncertainty.At News 4 pages1.indd 10 5/4/2017 8:19:44 AM