- 'Normal' visitors are staying away from London this summer because of concerns over congestion
- Hotels have slashed prices to as little as 10 a night weekend after Games ends
By Graham Smith
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Tourism bosses fear London will be left deserted in the weeks immediately following the Olympic Games.
The influx of athletes and spectators during the Games, which run from July 28 to August 12, is expected to push the capital's infrastructure to near breaking point.
But 'normal' visitors are staying away from London this summer because of concerns over congestion.
This has resulted in hotels slashing their prices to as little as 10 a night the weekend after the Olympic party comes to a close.
Ghost town: Tourism bosses fear London will be left deserted in the weeks immediately following the Olympic Games
One hotel adjacent to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, is offering a 39 rate for a family of four on Friday August 17, reports the Independent.
The hotel, a new-build Premier Inn, is charging 199 per night during the Olympics.
But while it is to be expected for hotel prices in and around the Olympic site to slump considerably following the Games, the same pattern is occurring in central London as well.
The Travelodge in Covent Garden is charging 170 for a twin room on Friday August 10 - one week later and this price has shrunk to just 42.75.
Elsewhere, the Savoy offers its Signature River 1-Bed Suite King for 5,750 on August 10; a week later it costs 'just' 2,195, a saving of more than 3,500.
Bargain: Adjacent to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, this Premier Inn is offering a 39 rate for a family of four on Friday August 17
Nick Varney, chief executive of attractions operator Merlin, said: 'The travel trade who normally bring tourist groups have basically switched away from London.
'Hotel rooms have gone up in price, and they've thought, "We don't even want to deal with being in London through that summer period." So immediately, there's a trade hit.'
Kit Malthouse, London's deputy mayor, said that a slump in tourism is to be expected in the aftermath of hosting the Olympics.
He said: 'After the Games, there will be an exaggerated effect of people staying away because they're uncertain about what state the city is in.'
However, the effect is expected to be short-lived as the Paralympic Games start on August 29 and run until September 9.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Morrisons appoints new corporate technical services director - Retail Bulletin
You are here: Home | News | Morrisons appoints new corporate technical services director
Morrison's has appointed Andrew Clappen as its new corporate technical services director. Clappen is replacing technical director Liam Pope, who is retiring after more than 25 years at the supermarket chain.
Previously senior vice president for food safety, quality assurance and regulatory affairs at Canadian retailer Loblaw, Clappen will be responsible for food safety, trading standards and compliance issues in his new role. He will report to Morrison’s corporate services director Martyn Jones.
In a separate move, Morrison’s has recruited Allison Taylor as loss prevention director to head up a new loss prevention unit. Taylor joins the supermarket from Dixons.
Commenting on the appointments Martyn Jones said: "These appointments are part of Morrisons ongoing development from a family business to a FTSE-50 company. They will ensure we have the right people and processes in place to satisfy our external stakeholders."
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Source: www.theretailbulletin.com
Supermarkets are accused of failing to adequately stock shelves - scotsman.com
Supermarket shelves are so poorly stocked that the typical shopper can find everything on their list just eight times in every 100 visits, research claims.
There are so many gaps in availability that undercover investigators, visiting a different Tesco branch every week for a year, got a full basket just three times.
Waitrose was no better, Asda only marginally so, and even the best of the five major chains, Morrisons, could only offer every item on a list six times in 12 months.
The problem is getting worse according to the annual Grocer 33 table, an influential round-up of a full year of mystery shoppers testing supermarkets.
The Grocer magazine sends investigators to a different branch of Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose every week with a list of 33 everyday items to buy.
As well as monitoring the price and service, it also looks at the availability of items, which include the kind of things every shopper buys like tea, bread and milk.
In the past 12 months, out of 250 visits, the list could only be completed 21 times, which works out at 8 per cent.
Morrisons was best with six full baskets, Sainsbury’s provided five, Asda four and both Tesco and Waitrose just three.
There were 53 baskets - more than one in five - returned with three or more items missing, with Tesco the worst culprit, having been the best the year before.
In the previous 12-month period, there were 38 full baskets, and all but Morrisons managed double figures for the number of times they returned all 33 items.
Analysts blamed the problem of increasing breakdowns between the supermarkets and their supply chain and underestimating customer demand for promotions. Suppliers are not keeping as much stock during the economic recession to avoid the costs of wastage if they do not sell everything.
This also means that they have less to supply the supermarket chains when several of them order the same thing at once unexpectedly – possibly one chain runs a promotion and others decide to copy.
There is also a problem with different branches having different needs when such a promotion is run, said The Grocer.
A chain may order an extra 100 units of one product for each of its branches when running a promotion like a “buy one, get one free” deal.
But while one branch could sell out within a day, another could be left with unsold stock for a couple of months, said the publication
Alan Braithwaite of supply chain consultants LCP said: “Promotions lead to massive volatility in demand. The spike could be fivefold in one store and 25-fold in another.”
The Grocer’s editor Adam Leyland said: “Five years of intensifying promotion-based price wars, combined with an increasing disconnect between supermarket and supplier planning, and just-in-time stock inventories, have resulted in major shelf gaps amid ever-more erratic sales.”
Yet despite the lack of full baskets, supermarkets can point to The Grocer’s figures showing an average 95 per cent of the 33 items are available at any one time.
Sainsbury’s said its own figures showed it had improved over five years, adding: “We performed well against our targets.”
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Doesn't look like any shortage of words from you Big Foot
I use the Tesco in Newington which is a terrible shop. It's queues are horrendous , they never have any fruit or veg and any wine that's on offer, you will find an empty space. Granted, it's the main shop for Edinburgh Uni students but little or nothing has been done to improve things. Still, lets put things into perspective eh? Do we really need a 24 pack of Kit Kats or buy 1 get 1 free tumble dryer sheets? We have become spoiled, fat and lazy in the modern age!
Because FOOD SHORTAGES ARE COMING, like electric and gas shortages will be coming.
FEATURES 18 Jun 2012 Editor's blog - Article 10, protection of sources and police pressure to reveal them It is worth quoting a recent ECHR fact sheet on the protection of journalistic sources in detail, given the disturbing events of today, when it has emerged that it is by admission “normal practice” for Strathclyde Police to browbeat journalists in an effort to pressure them into revealing the sources of news stories that may cast them in a negative light. “The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly emphasised that Article 10 safeguards not only the substance and contents of information and ideas, but also the means of transmitting it. The press has been accorded the broadest scope of protection in the Court’s case law, including with regard to confidentiality of journalistic sources,” the fact sheet begins. It then quotes the landmark Goodman case, which enshrines the Article 10 entitlement of journalists to protect their sources. “The protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for press freedom,“ it says. “Without such protection, sources may be deterred from assisting the press in informing the public on matters of public interest. As a result the vital public-watchdog role of the press may be undermined, and the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information be adversely affected. An order of source disclosure ... cannot be compatible with Article 10 unless it is justified by an overriding requirement in the public interest.” The Goodwin case, perhaps unsurprisingly, originated in the UK. What has emerged through The Firm’s reporting of on Operation Rubicon, the Scottish investigation into phone hacking, police corruption, breaches of data protection and matters arising out of the Tommy Sheridan trial is that Strathclyde Police’s major investigation, backed by significant resources, is beginning to look like nothing more than an elaborate smokescreen, concealing a less than half hearted effort by the police to investigate themselves. Whilst in England, numerous Chief Constables, Deputies, Superintendents and all manner of major figures have been obliged to resign due to the findings of Operations Elveden, Weeting, Tuleta and the Leveson Inquiry, the only action that has arisen from Rubicon in almost exactly a year of activity is the arrest of Andy Coulson for perjury, a matter which could have been dealt with at the conclusion of the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial seven months before Rubicon was initiated. All in all, not much to show for a year’s work, in this reporter's view. The Firm reported this afternoon that the officer leading the inquiry, DS John McSporran had, according to sources, stated that Rubicon was not looking into police corruption or phone hacking, contrary to the extensive remit provided by the Crown Office. The police were made aware of the claims before the story went to press, and in due course DS McSporran provided a carefully hedged statement which was also duly reported, and as far as the public interest function of journalism is concerned, all was more or less right with the world. And then the phone went. A “media manager” from Strathclyde Police called and asked The Firm repeatedly to disclose the source of the original story, seemingly unaware that there is not a court in Europe that would support the notion of the police obliging a journalist to do so. The inappropriate nature of the request was of course duly pointed out, but the officer in question said that they “did not see a problem” in being told the source. “I need to speak to the Chief Constable about this,” I told the caller. “No, you don’t.” Hmmm. “Who do you report to?” I asked. “I report to the Deputy Chief Constable” “I need to speak to the Deputy Chief Constable immediately please.” “No you’re not [sic]” I was told. “I’m not putting you through to the Deputy Chief constable. Why can’t you deal with this with me? You are being utterly unreasonable.” The identity of the media manager has been established and the entire issue is now subject to complaint raised with the Deputy Chief Constable who, one would anticipate, would immediately disavow such a prima facie breach by the state of the ECHR protections afforded to journalists, and confirm that he supports the protection of journalists' sources fully throughout the organisation, including its media managers (whatever they are…). Public interest has prompted me to publish this blog and open the debate out to those elsewhere in the media or public life who may have insight into what ought to be a rogue incident, but which may in fact be more widespread. You see, the practice of applying pressure to seek sources from journalists is evidently routine, something the media manager was prepared to confirm in writing by way of email follow up. “I am writing to request that you confirm where the comments attributed to John McSporran came from. I deal with journalists every day and most will be good enough to confirm where they have got their information in order that we can answer their enquiry as accurately as possible,” a subsequent email read. “I would reiterate it is normal practice for us to ask journalists where they have got their information from. They are not obliged to tell us however most usually do in order to assist us in answering their questions and confirming or otherwise if that information is in fact correct or incorrect.” One finds it hard to believe that most journalists would be “good enough” to confirm the identity of their sources under any circumstances. If applying this pressure is indeed “normal practice,” perhaps Lord Leveson may want to ask another question or two of Chief Constable Stephen House, to ask him why. Lest we forget, House also told the inquiry in the full glare of planet Earth that Strathclyde Police officers were “taking money”, something that has not resulted in any subsequent arrests by the officers of Operation Rubicon. Another news outlet today reported that Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has claimed that Scottish Government phones have been hacked, less than a week after the First Minister told the Leveson inquiry that he believed illegality was rife across many, many newspapers. The evidence in the public domain that attests to the possibility of police corruption is everywhere. According to The Guardian’s review of “Enquirer”, a performance play based on interviews conducted with figures operating in the prevailing media environment, well kent face Jack Irvine is “alarmingly unguarded about his time as launch editor of the Scottish Sun,” and openly boasts of bribing the police. "I had a black book of cash payoffs," he says, adding that payments were made to ambulance crews, social workers and royal staff. "Is it illegal to pay cops?" he asks, seemingly in all innocence.” If such alleged corruption is capable of discovery by any member of the public enterprising enough to visit the theatre, yet has not been unearthed by a significantly resourced team of police who have been at it for a year, the actions of a police force that not only trample over the basic protections of the free press, but are also confident to do so in writing, warrant further scrutiny. One also has to look afresh at the low arrest rate arising from Rubicon and ask what exactly is happening there. I understand that Rubicon personnel will shortly be subject to redeployment to cover the Olympics, and if that is the case there may not be much more fruit to be borne from its labours. If its sole legacy is the new practice of hunting journalists' sources, the present, far less the future of journalism in Scotland is fragile indeed. Steven Raeburn Previous Feature : Statement from Roseanna Cunningham on racist crime Print this document See all news LATEST NEWS Strathclyde Police spin chief joins "No" campaign - 18 Jun 2012 Exclusive: Rubicon chief says police not looking into phone hacking, sources claim - 18 Jun 2012 Rubicon Chief: inquiry "has never deviated" from investigating phone hacking - 18 Jun 2012 UK wide electoral reform floated - 15 Jun 2012 Law Society of England and Wales supports marriage equality - 14 Jun 2012 See all features LATEST FEATURES Editor's blog - Article 10, protection of sources and police pressure to reveal them - 18 Jun 2012 Statement from Roseanna Cunningham on racist crime - 12 Jun 2012 Jubilee? #Jobbielee: Power and the People - 04 Jun 2012 Austin Lafferty - The essence of private practice - 30 May 2012 Supreme Court, Assange and the Vienna Convention - 30 May 2012
I would like to see the shopping list they use, I have never had a problem filling my shopping list in Sainsburys or Asda, I never use waitrose or Morrisons and only occasionally go to tesco.
Tae the supermarket here we go To fill our trolleys, in we throw, Tatties, pickles, name yer poison, And its something tae keep the boys in, Haggies and neeps, and raspberries too, Bit help me boab there nae stew, Roun fae Tesco to Sainbeeraies dance, O the staff are in a trance, We hive goat yer stew in stock Sae stop complainig an gai it a sock.
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Source: www.scotsman.com
London Welsh's appeal against Premiership promotion block is delayed - The Guardian
London Welsh's appeal against the decision to block their promotion to the Aviva Premiership has been delayed by a week.
The case will now be heard on 28 June – it was originally scheduled for 21 June – under an agreement by all parties involved.
The independent panel will be James Dingemans QC (chairman), Ian Mill QC and Tim Ward QC at a venue yet to be confirmed.
Welsh won this season's Championship after beating Cornish Pirates in both legs of the final.
But the Richmond-based club were told just hours before the first leg kicked off in Cornwall they did not meet minimum standards criteria set down by English rugby's Professional Game Board for entry to the Premiership.
The Exiles played the final's second leg at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford, which is thought to be their preferred venue should they gain top-flight status.
As things stand, Newcastle will remain in the Premiership next term despite finishing bottom by a point behind Wasps this season.
But should London Welsh succeed in overturning an original decision that went against them, then they will go up and the Falcons be relegated.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Are we expected to feel sympathy for these people who inflate their prices and fill their boots ripping off the Olympic visitors ?
- Graham, Up North, 19/6/2012 12:35
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