Latest news with #BagForLife
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Best and worst bag fees from shops revealed as we name retailers charging YOU more
Scroll down to find out how to save money on your weekly food shop FEE FURY Best and worst bag fees from shops revealed as we name retailers charging YOU more Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SHOPPERS are paying up to 566% extra for carrier bags based on where they shop. Research by The Sun has found differences are huge. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 We've researched how much retailers charge for single-use and longer-life bags Credit: PA While Home Bargains charges 15p for a reusable bag, some retailers including Iceland and Waitrose charge £1 - an 85p difference. Health retailers Superdrug and Boots also charge £1 for longer life carriers. Retailers sell two types of bags - single use and reusable. Some shops have ditched selling single-use bags entirely, while others do have cheaper options for shoppers. We found the cheapest long-life bags on offer from Sainsbury's, Lidl, Tesco and Aldi cost 30p - and 70p less than some of its rivals. Since 2021, by law retailers have had to charge 10p per single-use carrier bag in a bid to reduce waste and help the environment - known as the plastic bag charge. The government estimated that in 2013 supermarkets gave out over eight billion single-use carrier bags to shoppers across the UK. But by 2023/24, the reduction in these bags dropped by 98% compared to 2014. The drop off in single-use bags has seen take up of long life carriers surge. However, consumer expert Martyn James has said customers being charged more for longer-life bags hints at profiteering by retailers. Shopping discounts - How to make savings and find the best bargains He said: "When the plastic bag charge was introduced, some grumbled, but at 5p a pop, it didn't break the bank. "A decade or so on and plastic bags come in at 30p a pop or more and many people I speak to feel there is blatant profiteering going on." We looked at the major supermarkets and retailers to see how much they charge for single-use and long life bags. Here's what we found. How supermarket bag costs compare All the major supermarkets don't sell single-use carrier bags apart from Co-op and Aldi which sell 10p compostable carrier bags. Co-op's bag, once used, doubles-up as a waste food bin liner, which can then be thrown away. Prices for these same supermarkets' longer-life bag options can vary significantly. Asda's Bag For Life will set you back 40p while Morrisons' paper Bag For Life is also 40p. Morrisons also sells plastic Bags For Life for 60p, and replaces any which are damaged for free. Lidl, Sainsbury's and Tesco's Bags For Life cost 30p. Aldi sells an Eco-Loop carrier reusable bag for 30p while its Bag For Life is 65p. Waitrose doesn't offer shoppers Bags For Life, however they can get thicker reusable bags from £1. Frozen food specialist Iceland's woven reusable bags cost £1. How other major retailer prices compare Boots sells a variety of different size single-use paper bags. Small bags cost 10p, medium bags 12p and larger carriers 20p. Shoppers can also buy a medium Boots Bag For Life for £1 or large size for £1.20. Discounter Home Bargains only sells reusable carrier bags, which cost 15p in Great Britain and 20p in Northern Ireland. Fashion retailer New Look charges customers 30p for its Bag For Life. Poundland's reusable bags start at 50p while it also has Bags for Life which start priced at £1. Meanwhile, Primark's single-use paper bags, which were previously free of charge, cost 15p and its reusable sacks cost from 80p. Ikea's most popular "FRAKTA" reusable bag starts from 50p while shoppers can buy a larger size for 75p. Health and beauty retailer Superdrug charges 15p for its single-use paper bags. It also sells a foldable reusable tote bag for £1. A Primark spokesperson said: 'Like most retailers, we now have a small charge for our paper bags. "Reducing single-use paper is one small step we and our customers can make to reduce waste. "We hope this encourages more shoppers to switch to re-usable bags." A Boots spokesperson said: "A Boots bag for life costs £1 for a medium size and £1.20 for a large size. "The bags are reusable and are made from 100% recycled bottles." A Waitrose spokesperson said its longer life bags are a different design to traditional longer life bags. They added: "They are a durable long term option which our customers have bags of love for - and we want them to last years." We asked Iceland and Superdrug to comment. How to cut the cost of your grocery shop SAVING on your shop can make a big difference to your wallet. Here are some tips from comparison site about how you can cut the cost of your shopping bills: Write yourself a list – Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Create a budget – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping Never shop hungry – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling Don't buy pre-chopped veggies or fruit – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering Use social media – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals Be disloyal – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains Check the small print – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more Use your loyalty cards – Don't be afraid to sign up to them all. They all work slightly differently – work out what bonus suits you better and remember to trade in your points for additional rewards Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@ Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
The Courier
3 days ago
- The Courier
Bizarre claims of Perthshire tea blagger Thomas Robinson – bomb disposal, surviving deadly snake bites and inventing Bag for Life
It was not just the whirlwind success of Thomas Robinson's Scottish tea plantation that prosecutors found hard to swallow. There were many aspects of the 55-year-old's personal life and Forrest Gump-esque career that were difficult to believe – and even tougher to fact-check. 'I enjoy telling people that I was one of the inventors of the Bag For Life,' he said. 'They don't believe it. Then when they go away and Google it, they come back with a different impression of me.' Robinson, who was this week convicted of a £550k fake Scottish tea fraud, claimed he was part of a team of three people who produced the now ubiquitous shopping carrier for Waitrose in the late 1990s. There is no evidence to back up his claim. Investigators found no connection between the Bag for Life and Thomas Robinson. Or Thomas O'Brien. Or Tam O'Braan. So who is the man behind the Perthshire grown brew that was too good to be true? Taking the witness stand towards the end of his trial, Robinson was asked to declare his name. 'Thomas James O'Brien,' he said. Born Thomas Robinson in Greenwich, London in 1970, he said he went to an Irish primary school in County Down. But he later said by the age of eight he was educated in London. He said he achieved a qualification in food technology from a college in London's Elephant and Castle in the late 1980s. 'It was the same college where Charlie Chaplin and Michael Caine went,' he told jurors. Robinson denied he had ever told anyone he was a member of the British armed forces, but said he was part of the 'Irish Defence Force' for a year in the late 1990s. He served on the Irish border but also went to 'various overseas locations' to guard embassies. When pressed on how a London-born man with a UK passport would be in the Irish army, he told the court: 'One can have dual nationality.' Asked by fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie what kind of discharge he received from the army, Robinson replied: 'Regular.' He insisted he could not divulge any details of his army career. The court heard how he told Jamie Russell of the Wee Tea Company he saw a soldier die in combat. Robinson said his former business associate was confused and he had in fact told him he had seen a man in a Hearts top being killed in a road accident in Thailand. The court heard he had also bragged about being involved in bomb disposal operations and told others he was a military chef. 'You went as far as to make up these elaborate lies so you appeared to be a man of integrity,' Ms Ritchie told him. 'You wanted to appear as someone who people trust.' Around the same time he was supposedly in the army, he claimed to be studying plastics at the Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland for 'a year and a bit'. Meanwhile, he was enjoying a career as a professional rugby player. He told the court he played 'to a high standard' at several clubs including Blackheath and Liverpool Stanley. He was so good at rugby, he even had a coaching career, he said. At some point, he also studied Gaelic in Kilkenny. But all evidence of his head-spinning achievements during the 1990s were lost in a flood, he said. All of his qualifications, rugby coaching certificates and paperwork from his army days are now a 'pile of mush' in a water-logged part of an outhouse in Dalreoch. Robinson then claimed to work in the flour and cereal industry, before moving into plastics, where he supposedly developed the Bag For Life. By April 2010 when he married partner Grace Wallace in their then-home city of Edinburgh, he had changed his name to Thomas O'Brien. During his tea plantation days he told people – including the press – his wife was a lawyer but in court he said she worked for the office of national statistics. Their marriage certificate reveals Robinson was a chemical engineer, also noting his father James Robinson was a colonel in the Royal Artillery. Asked how he got a job as a chemical engineer with no chemistry qualifications, he said he studied the subject at Napier University – but did not graduate. At some point, he somehow managed to live on a canoe in the Amazon for four years where he was bitten by a deadly spider, as he told Country Life in 2017. In November 2010, his company Thomas James Consultants Ltd – set up to protect his 'intellectual property' – received a £20,469 grant from the European Development Fund. The grant was to develop and test degradable plastics, which became crucial to his tea-growing business in Perthshire. Robinson became director of a company called EconVerte which carried out crop trials and experiments. He told the court his work secured him a contract with President Barrack Obama's administration to carry out maize trials in a dustbowl. Where was this contract now? The same bag of mush in his basement. He resigned from EconVerte in 2012, the year he moved with his family to Dalreoch Farm, Amulree. According to Companies House records, the Wee Tea Plantation was incorporated in August 2014. Sole shareholder Robinson said he had earlier travelled to the Himalayas to see for himself how to grow tea in harsh conditions. There, he was struck by the revelation that quality tea could be grown in Scotland. 'I spoke to an elder there and he said he had always wondered why we didn't do it in Scotland,' he said. 'We have the right conditions, the hills and the water.' He shared his idea with his friend Jamie Russell, who he had met at his Bread Street cafe in Edinburgh around 2008. Robinson told the trial he was a near-daily customer at the coffee shop and the pair bonded over their love of rugby. At the cafe, he also met Derek Walker, another regular customer, as well as Lindsay Deuchars who was an employee. Mr Russell and Mr Walker established the Wee Tea Company at an industrial unit in Dunfermline in 2012. A year or two later, Robinson made a pitch to the fledgling business owners. 'I told Jamie what I was doing,' he said. 'I told him I thought I had worked out how to grow tea in Scotland.' The trio gathered for a meeting in a freezing potting shed in Dalreoch, where Robinson explained his big secret – a 'unique' polymer sheeting that better retained moisture in the soil and prevented crops from being smothered by weeds. Robinson said the plastic sheeting allowed his plants to grow at a much faster rate than normal. He described the sheeting as 'known technology' but used in an innovative way, comparing himself to Steve Jobs inventing the iPhone. Prosecutors said it looked like a bin liner. His role, he said, was to attract larger retailers while supplying Mr Russell with wet tea leaves grown at Amulree. It was decided Robinson would became Tam O'Braan 'for press purposes'. He named himself after the river that runs through his plantation. The plan was to aim for the higher end of the tea market. While they claimed the Dorchester, Balmoral and Fortnum and Mason among their stockists, Robinson had further lofty targets including Harrods and the Savoy. One of the tricks he used to secure sales was to tell people his produce was a favourite of the Queen. When pressed on this, he said he had at some point received a call from a member of staff at Buckingham Palace who told him how much Her Majesty had enjoyed his tea while visiting the Dorchester. Robinson's Wee Tea Plantation was dissolved in October 2019, around the time the Food Standards Scotland probe was getting into full swing. Since, Robinson said he has worked for an environmental company in Birmingham and driven a school bus for Stagecoach during the Covid lockdown. He most recently secured a job as a senior chef at the plush Taymouth Castle, near Kenmore. He told jurors his job had been kept open for him after an industrial accident in 2023, which left him with cognitive and memory issues. When asked what happened, he said: 'I tripped over an electrical wire and fell into the basement of a castle.' Taymouth Castle declined to comment on the alleged incident, which is understood to have happened without witnesses and was not caught on CCTV. During his evidence, Robinson apologised for some unusual mannerisms such as taking deep breaths before reading printed words. 'I know it can look a bit strange,' he said. 'I'm better with pictures.' When the jury were out of the room, he appeared in discomfort or pain. Concerned, Sheriff Keith O'Mahony told Robinson he was welcome to sit and give his evidence, instead of stand. 'I just want to come across as normal as possible,' Robinson replied.
