Latest news with #Webbs
The Sun
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
‘Charming' family-run garden centre to close after over 100 years in business as shoppers say ‘you'll be missed!'
SHOPPERS were devastated to learn a "charming" family-run garden centre is set to close after 105 years. Locals cried "you'll be missed" after the owners made their sad announcement this week. 4 4 4 Webb's, located in Bearwood, West Mids., has been passed down through five generations who have lovingly run the gardening shop since 1921. Pauline and Steve Webb shared the update on Facebook, which came as a shock to locals. They said: "After more than a century of serving the Bearwood community, Webb's of Bearwood, the cherished garden centre and gift shop located at 64–66 Three Shires Oak Road in Smethwick, is closing its doors. "Owners Pauline and Steve have announced their retirement, bringing to an end a remarkable family-run business that has been part of local life since 1921. "Since 1921 FIVE generations have worked at the shop, beginning with Oliver John Webb passing to John William Webb & Jenny Webb. "Pauline and Steve brought up Samantha & Adam at the shop, and now Adam & Hannah with Lillian & Oliver... "Webb's has long been a go-to destination for gardening enthusiasts and gift seekers alike. "The shop was renowned for its wide selection of seasonal plants, perennials, houseplants, and gardening tools, as well as its charming Walled Garden Gift Shop, which offered unique gifts, festive decorations and Christmas Trees. "Customers frequently praised the shop for its friendly service and high-quality offerings. "The closure of Webb's marks not just the end of a business, but the conclusion of a beloved community institution. Popular retailer to RETURN 13 years after collapsing into administration and shutting 236 stores "Its presence on the high street will be deeply missed by locals who valued its personal touch and commitment to quality. "Pauline and Steve would like to thank all of the family and friends who have ever stepped in to help in busy times... working at Webbs makes you part of the family! "As Pauline and Steve step into retirement, the community reflects on the legacy they've built over the past century. "Their dedication and passion have left an indelible mark on Bearwood, and they leave behind a legacy of excellence and community spirit. "The doors will close for the last time on Saturday 28th June.... "Thank you for your custom over the years, Pauline, Steve & the rest of the Webb/Davis family x" One customer hailed the garden shop and penned: "Webbs is a delightful small garden centre, full of everything a gardener or beginner needs. "The owners are always helpful and Pauline has an exquisite taste in plants that she orders in." Another wrote: "Wishing you both a Happy & long Retirement you both fully deserve it!" A third added: "I can't imagine Bearwood without you guys." "You're going to be missed so much. What a fantastic family history. Enjoy your retirement," penned another fan. "End of an era. All the best for your retirement," wrote someone else. This follows a string of Dobbies garden centre closures this year. A map has revealed where eight branches are shutting down, including in Rugby, Stapleton and Leicester, as well as Morpeth, Havant and Aylesbury. The gardening specialist closed 16 stores as part of a restructuring plan late last year. The eight branches confirmed to be closing this year, which The Sun exclusively revealed, have already started shutting. Four stores in Rugby, Stapleton, Morpeth and Havant all shut on January 19, while a fifth closed in Hare Hatch on January 31. A store in Leicester pulled down its shutters for the final time on February 14 while two others in Northampton and Aylesbury are shutting, but don't have closure dates confirmed yet. Dobbies is not the only DIY or garden centre retailer struggling across the UK. High inflation coupled with a squeeze on consumers' finances has meant people have less money to spend in the shops. Why are retailers closing shops? EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline. The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors. In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping. Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed. The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing. Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns. Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead. In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few. What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online. They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. Major chain Homebase fell into administration in November, putting all its then 133 UK stores at risk. CDS Superstores, which owns The Range and Wilko brands, stepped in and said it would take over up to 70 of these stores. Last month, CDS confirmed it would reopen 50 of these 70 sites before the end of April. But it means a number of Homebase stores are still at risk of closure, while others have been earmarked to shut. Meanwhile, last Spring, Kingfisher, which owns B&Q and Screwfix, revealed its annual profits had slumped by more than a quarter. The company reported a 25.1% drop in underlying pre-tax profits to £568million for the year to January 31, 2024. The high street more broadly has struggled as well, due to high inflation and combined and the trend towards online shopping. Recent data from the Centre for Retail Research revealed over 13,000 shops closed in 2024. Meanwhile, it expects this figure to rise to more than 17,000 across the whole of 2025. One major high street chain is closing a branch in just weeks as a closing down sale is launched and with eight other shops set to shut. The Original Factory Shop (TOFS) is pulling down the shutters on the site on June 28 with shoppers left gutted. Elsewhere, the sudden closure of a beloved pub and hotel has left loyal locals "gutted". The manager of the Rivelin Hotel in Sheffield broke the news that it would serve its last pint on 1 June. And, a huge charity retailer is closing two stores in days after shuttering 27 this year. Scope, which runs shops in England and Wales, is shutting branches in Exmouth and Bury on May 31. RETAIL PAIN IN 2025 The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April. A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024. Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020." 4
France 24
14-05-2025
- General
- France 24
Forced labour, disease and conflict: The hidden side of industrial fishing in Saya de Malha
In October 2022, a British-American couple, Kyle and Maryanne Webb, were sailing their yacht through a remote area of the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and Seychelles, just south of the Saya de Malha Bank, the world's largest seagrass field. The Webbs were sailing enthusiasts and had covered tens of thousands of miles on their vessel, the Begonia, over the previous years. As they passed the bank, they spotted a small fishing vessel, about 55 feet in length, painted bright yellow and turquoise, with about a dozen red and orange flags billowing from the roof of its cabin. It was a Sri Lankan gillnet boat called, in Sinhali, the Hasaranga Putha. Looking gaunt and desperate, the crew told the Webbs that they had sailed roughly 2,000 miles from their home port, in Beruwala, Sri Lanka. They had been at sea for two weeks, they said, but had only caught four fish. They begged the Webbs for food, soda and cigarettes. The Webbs gave them what they could, including fresh water, then headed on their way. "They were clearly in a struggling financial position, "Mrs. Webb said. "It broke my heart to see the efforts they feel they must go to provide for their families." A month later, again near the Saya de Malha Bank, the Hasaranga Putha hailed another vessel – the South African ocean research and supply ship, S.A. Agulhas II, who was on an expedition in Saya de Malha for the environmental non-profit Monaco Explorations. By this time, the Sri Lankan crew was almost out of fuel and begged for diesel. The scientists did not have the right type of petrol to offer but they still boarded a dinghy and brought the fishers water and cigarettes. Grateful, the Sri Lankans gave them fish in return. The Hasaranga Putha would remain at sea for another six months before returning to Colombo in April 2023. A perilous journey Hundreds of miles from the nearest port, the Saya de Malha Bank is one of the most remote areas on the planet, which means it can be a harrowing workplace for the thousands of fishers from a half dozen countries that make the perilous journey to reach it. The farther from shore that vessels travel, and the more time they spend at sea, the more the risks pile up. Dangerous storms, deadly accidents, malnutrition, and physical violence are common threats faced by distant-water crews. Each year, a fleet of several dozen Sri Lankan gill-netters makes some of the longest trips made to the area, often in the least equipped boats. Some of the vessels that fish the Saya de Malha Bank engage in a practice called transshipment, where they offload their catch to refrigerated carriers without returning to shore, so that they can remain fishing on the high seas for longer periods of time. Fishing is the most dangerous occupation in the world, and more than 100,000 fishermen die on the job each year. When they do, particularly on longer journeys far from shore, it is not uncommon for their bodies to be buried at sea. Sri Lankan gillnetters are not the only fishing vessels making perilous journeys to reach the rich and biodiverse Saya de Malha Bank. Thai fishmeal trawlers also target these waters, traveling more than 2,500 nautical miles from the port of Kantang. In January 2016, for example, three Thai trawlers left the Saya de Malha Bank and returned to Thailand. During the journey, 38 Cambodian crew members fell ill, and by the time they returned to port, six had already died. The remaining sick crew were hospitalised and treated for beriberi, a disease caused by a deficiency of Vitamin B1 or thiamine. Symptoms include tingling, burning, numbness, difficulty breathing, lethargy, chest pain, dizziness, confusion, and severe swelling. Easily preventable, yet fatal if left untreated, beriberi has historically appeared in prisons, asylums, and migrant camps, but it has largely been stamped out. Experts say that when it occurs at sea, beriberi often indicates criminal neglect. One medical examiner described it as "slow-motion murder" because it is so easily treatable and avoidable. The disease has become more prevalent on distant-water fishing vessels in part because ships stay so long at sea, a trend facilitated by transshipment. Working practices involving hard labour and extensive working hours cause the body to deplete vitamin B1 at a faster metabolic rate to produce energy, the Thai government concluded in a report on the deaths. Further research by Greenpeace found that some of the workers were victims of forced labour. Crime on the high seas Today, fewer vessels from the Thai fleet are traveling to Saya de Mahla, but some still make the trip, and questions about their working conditions linger. In April 2023, one of those vessels, the Chokephoemsin 1, a bright blue 90-foot trawler, set out for the Saya de Malha Bank with a crew member named Ae Khunsena, who boarded the ship in Samut Prakan, Thailand, for a five-month tour, according to a report compiled by Stella Maris, a non-profit organisation that helps fishers. As is typical on high-seas vessels, the hours were long and punishing. Khunsena earned 10,000 baht, or about $288, per month, according to his contract. In one of his last calls to his family through Facebook, Khunsena said he had witnessed a fight that resulted in more than one death. He said the body of a crew member who was killed was brought back to the ship and kept in the freezer. When his family pressed for details, Khunsena said he would tell them more later. He added that another Thai crew member who also witnessed the killing had been threatened with death and so he fled the ship while it was still near shore along the Thai coast. Khunsena's family spoke to Khunsena for the last time on July 22, 2023. A company official contested this claim and said no such fight happened and added that there was an observer from the Department of Fisheries aboard the vessel, who would have reported such an incident had it happened. On July 29, while working in waters near Sri Lanka, Khunsena went overboard, off the stern of the ship. The incident was captured on a ship security camera. A man listed as Khunsena's employer on his contract named Chaiyapruk Kowikai told Khunsena's family that he had jumped. The ship's captain then spent a day unsuccessfully searching the area to rescue him, before returning to fishing, Kowikai said. The vessel returned to port in Thailand roughly two months later. Police, company and insurance officials eventually concluded that Khunsena's death was likely a suicide. This claim seemed to be backed up by the onboard footage, which did not show anyone near him when he went over the side of the boat. In September, 2024, a reporting team from the Outlaw Ocean Project visited Khunsena's village. Settled by rice farmers about a century ago, Non Siao is located in Bua Lai District, Nakhon Ratchasima, roughly two hundred miles to the northeast of Bangkok. The reporting team interviewed Khusena's mother and cousin as well as the local labour inspector, police chief, aid worker and an official from the company that owned the ship. While the police and company officials said the death was likely a suicide, Khusena's family avidly disagreed. "Why would he jump?" said Palita, Khunsena's cousin, explaining why she highly doubted that Khusena took his own life. "He didn't have any problems with anyone." Sitting on the ground under an overcast sky as she spoke with the reporter in a follow-up conversation by video chat, Palita went silent and looked down at her phone. "He wanted to see me," added Khusena's mother, Boonpeng Khunsena, who also doubted his suicide, since he kept saying in calls that he intended to be home by Mother's Day. His family instead speculated that Khusena had likely witnessed a violent crime and therefore to silence him, he had been coerced to jump overboard. As is often the case with crimes at sea, where evidence is limited, witnesses are few and frequently unreliable, it is difficult to know whether Khusena died due to foul play. Perhaps, as his family speculated in interviews with The Outlaw Ocean Project, he had witnessed a violent crime and, consequently, had been forced to jump overboard. Perhaps, instead, he jumped willingly from the ship, a suicidal gesture likely driven by depression or mental health issues. In either scenario, the point remains the same: these distant-water ships are traveling so far from shore that the working and living conditions are brutal and sometimes violent. And these very conditions are likely playing a role in sinister outcomes. A transit route for migrants And yet, the human tragedy that criss-crosses this remote patch of high seas is not just tied to fishers. The Saya de Malha Bank has also become a transit route for migrants fleeing Sri Lanka. Since 2016, hundreds of Sri Lankans have attempted to make the perilous journey on fishing boats to the French-administered island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, some making the journey directly from Saya de Malha. Those who do succeed in making landfall on Reunion are often repatriated. In one case, on December 7, 2023, a Sri Lankan vessel that had spent the previous three months fishing in Saya de Malha, the Imul-A-0813 KLT, illegally entered the waters around Reunion. The seven crew members were apprehended by local authorities and repatriated to Sri Lanka two weeks later. Joining them on the repatriation flight were crew members of two other Sri Lankan fishing vessels that had previously been detained by Reunion authorities. With near-shore stocks overfished in Thailand and Sri Lanka, vessel owners send their crews further and further from shore in search of a worthwhile catch. That is what makes the Saya de Malha – far from land, poorly monitored, and with a bountiful ecosystem – such an attractive target. But the fishers forced to work there live a precarious existence, and for some, the long journey to the Saya de Malha is the last they ever take. This article was written by Ian Urbina, Maya Martin, Joe Galvin, Susan Ryan, and Austin Brush - Editors at The Outlaw Ocean Project. The Outlaw Ocean Project is a non-profit journalism organisation based in Washington DC that produces investigative stories about human rights, labour and environmental concerns on the two thirds of the planet covered by water. The organisation is run by Ian Urbina, an award-winning journalist who used to work for The New York Times.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Worcestershire garden centre dubbed one of the best in the UK
A WORCESTERSHIRE garden centre has been named one of the best in the UK. Webbs Wychbold has won not one but two national accolades in the Garden Trade News (GTN) Christmas Awards for 2024. It won gold in the Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team category for its decorative displays and also got the top award for its festive light trail in The Greatest Christmas Outdoor Event Team. READ MORE: Three Counties Produce opens in Webbs garden centre Sarah Brooks, Head of Brand, said: 'We are incredibly proud of both our award-winning teams and truly grateful for this recognition. "The Enchanted Gardens light trail returned for its fourth year in 2024, with a magical Wonderland theme. PROUD: Staff from Webbs Wychbold with their award. (Image: Webbs Wychbold) "A year in the making, the event welcomed over 60,000 visitors – its popularity limited only by capacity. READ MORE: 3 of the best garden centres to visit in Worcester 'The theme followed through into the most incredible Christmas retail displays in store, including our spectacular houseplant department, recognised in the awards." Webbs Wychbold hosted an Alice in Wonderland theme light display. The event, which has become a much-loved family tradition in the Christmas calendar, returned in 2024 for its fourth year. READ MORE: Garden centres encourage people to invest in houseplants A spokesperson for Webbs added: "Christmas plans for 2025 are already well underway and we can't wait to share what's in-store. "Stay tuned for the reveal of The Enchanted Gardens 2025 theme – coming soon on our social media!' Garden Trade News - a garden retail trade publication - hosted the awards to celebrate the finest UK garden centres and their Christmas displays. The awards ceremony took place on February 3.
