Latest news with #loyaltyScheme
The Sun
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
Greggs is making a big change to its loyalty scheme this month and it will be easier to get freebies
GREGGS is giving its popular loyalty scheme a major refresh this month – and fans can now get freebies faster. The bakery chain, which has branches across the UK, kicked off a new month-long promotion on 2 June, offering customers double stamps on selected menu items when buying between 11am and 2pm. 3 3 The offer is running in four weekly phases, with a new product category featured each week. This week (June 2–8), all hot, cold and made-to-order sandwiches qualify for double stamps – including baguettes, wraps, flatbreads, burgers and rolls. Meal deal fans won't miss out either, as they'll get stamps on all eligible items in their basket, as long as their lunch falls within the promotion window. From 9 to 15 June, the spotlight turns to "Hot Snacks", while between 16 and 22 June, it's the turn of the bakery's popular range of bakes, though the famous Sausage Roll and Vegan Sausage Roll are excluded. The final week, 23 to 29 June, will feature double stamps on all iced drinks. Customers earn one stamp per qualifying purchase in a category, and after nine stamps, they can claim a free item in that category. With this promotion, customers could earn two stamps per purchase – cutting the time it takes to grab a freebie in half. To take advantage of the offer, shoppers just need to scan the Greggs App in-store or order via click-and-collect. If you're not already signed up, downloading the app also gets you a free hot drink – and a sweet treat on your birthday. Full list of eligible items: Sandwiches (June 2–8) Baguettes Sliced bread sandwiches, stotties and made-to-order Oval Bites and Rolls Flatbreads Wraps Burgers (Excludes breakfast rolls/baguettes and sandwich platters) Hot Snacks (June 9–15) Southern Fried Chicken Goujons Southern Fried Potato Wedges Spicy BBQ Chicken Bites BBQ Bites Meal Box Crispy Chicken Bites Mozzarella & Cheddar Bites Bakes (June 16–22) Steak Bake Cheese & Onion Bake Sausage, Bean and Cheese Melt Vegetable Bake Corned Beef Bake Chicken Bake Red Pepper, Feta and Spinach Bake Scotch Pie Haggis Pie Bacon & Cheese Wrap Savoury Mince Pie (Excludes Sausage Rolls and Vegan Sausage Rolls) Iced Drinks (June 23–29) Iced Latte Iced Caramel Latte Iced Vanilla Latte Iced Caramelised Biscuit Latte Iced Americano Cloudy Lemonade Strawberry Lemonade Mint Lemonade Peach Iced Tea Mango & Strawberry Cooler 3
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Pets at Home's profits edge up as demand for vet services surges
Pets at Home saw underlying pre-tax profits across its veterinary arm rise by 23.3 per cent year-on-year to £75.9million, preliminary results show. But, across the chain's retail arm, underlying pre-tax profits slipped 16.6 per cent year-on-year to £72.9million. Revenue from vet services swelled by 13 per cent year-on-year, to £655.1million, comprising a third of total revenue at the business. Revenue from retail sales fell 1.8 per cent year-on-year to £1.3billion, Pets at Home said. Pets at Home has struggled with sluggish retail sales for the last few years, which it has previously attributed to weak footfall and a 'challenging UK consumer backdrop'. Across all its operations, the company reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £133million for the year ending 27 March, up from £132million the previous year. On retail sales, the group said the business was 'impacted by a period of subdued growth in the pet sector due to a soft UK consumer backdrop throughout FY25, deflation and normalising levels of new pet ownership.' Overall statutory revenue edged up 0.1 per cent to £1.48billion in the year to 27 March. The group said it had 8.2million members signed up to its loyalty scheme by the end of the period. On vet practice expansion, the group said: 'In FY26 we plan to open at least 10 new JV practices alongside 15 extensions.' Pets at Home increased its dividend for shareholders by 1.6 per cent year-on-year, from 12.8p to 13p. Pets at Home shares fell 0.38 per cent or 1.00p to 261.40p on Wednesday, having fallen over 7 per cent in the last year. Chief executive Lyssa McGowan, said: 'The past two years have seen a profound transformation at Pets at Home. 'We have moved from a business with a strong presence in pet retail and vets, to a true pet care platform.' She added: 'In FY25, we also saw another outstanding year of growth in our vets business, fuelled by the commitment and expertise of our partners, supported by our best-in-class scale services, platform benefits and industry knowhow. 'Our practices significantly outperformed a more subdued industry backdrop and delivered this progress despite the ongoing uncertainty of the CMA investigation – further demonstration of the power of our unique joint venture model.' The Competition and Markets Authority has been investigating the veterinary sector and is probing whether a lack of competition in the industry has contributed to surging prices. Across businesses in the sector, prices for treatments grew by 60 per cent between 2015 and 2023, compared with inflation of 35 per cent for other general services, according to CMA research. The CMA is pushing for more transparency over pricing as part of the overhaul due to be finalised in the coming months. In addition to the price caps, the CMA is examining whether a ban on bonuses linked to offering specific treatments would be viable. Adam Vettese, a market analyst at eToro, said: 'Pets at Home are putting their best paw forward with the veterinary side of the business, which is continuing to show robust growth. 'This has helped offset weaker retail performance and brought overall results in line with market expectations. Pre-tax profit and earnings per share rose, reflecting operational resilience despite a challenging macro environment. 'The board's confidence is evident in the 1.6 per cent dividend hike to 13.0p, signalling optimism for long-term growth. 'However, headwinds persist. Elevated costs, softer retail footfall, and the ongoing CMA probe into veterinary pricing practices continue to cloud the outlook.'
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Poundland makes big change to loyalty scheme in cost-cutting shake-up amid store closure risk
POUNDLAND has made a major change to its loyalty scheme as it launches a cost-cutting shake-up. The discount store has scrapped its exclusive lower prices for Poundland Perk members, which had worked similarly to Tesco's Clubcard offers. It comes as the troubled discount chain is being sold off by owner Pepco and up to 200 stores could face closure. Poundland has told The Sun the loyalty scheme shake-up is aimed at lowering prices on the shelves for all customers without the "hassle" of looking for a voucher in the shop's app. Customers will still be able to collect points on their shops and there will be weekly competitions to win points and prizes. Poundland shoppers get Perk Points when they spend money at the retailer and these can be turned into vouchers when they've accumulated at least 5,000 points. The Win It Wednesday competition is available in Poundland's app every Wednesday. Shoppers can spin the virtual wheel for a chance to win points or prizes and no purchase is needed. A spokesperson for Poundland said: "We've been listening closely to customers since we began piloting the app nationwide. "They tell us they really love collecting points and playing on 'Win it Wednesday', but customers want to see the lowest prices on the shelf without the hassle of looking for a voucher in the app. "So, we're bringing more of what they love and less of what they don't!" What's happening at Poundland? Poundland has been struggling in recent months after reporting slow sales and a rise in costs due to the Government's Budget measures. Poundland to be sold for JUST £1 as frontrunner for shock takeover is revealed after wave of store closures The brand said in an update yesterday it had suffered "challenges across all categories" and had shut 18 stores in the six months to March. Late last year it was revealed that profits at the company had tumbled by £641million in the year to September. Polish retail giant Pepco currently owns Poundland but is expecting to sell it off by September. Last month it hired advisory firm Teneo to oversee the sale of the business. Gordon Brothers, the ex-owner of Laura Ashley, has become the frontrunner to take over the bargain chain. Bidding for the business was expected to start earlier this week and a source told The Sunday Times that Poundland would be priced at "effectively a pound". Sky News is now reporting that Gordon Brothers and former HMV and Homebase owner Hilco are in a two-way race to buy the chain. A decision on the preferred bidder is likely within days. Up to 200 stores could reportedly close as part of the rescue deal. Poundland currently has 825 stores across the UK. The retailer has already announced plans to shut around 10 stores since the start of the year. Some of the stores that have already shut include locations in Ipswich, Gravesend, London and Liverpool. The store on Chiswick High Road in west London will close next week. 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.
The Sun
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
UK's biggest energy supplier baffles customers with big loyalty scheme discount change
THE UK'S biggest energy supplier has left customers baffled after making a big change to its loyalty scheme. Octopus Energy is now releasing codes for free hot drinks daily instead of once weekly via its Octoplus scheme. 1 Shoppers can redeem the codes for beverages at Greggs or Caffe Nero with one code available per Octoplus customer per week. Previously, the codes were issued in bulk on Mondays and customers had to snap them up before they were gone. But they're now being released every morning, with the firm saying it means customers have more of a chance of claiming them across the week. However, the change has left some customers baffled and grumbling it's now harder for them to bag codes before they're snapped up. Posting on Reddit, one said Nero vouchers are only available "for those who get up at 6am now". They added: "The old system wasn't perfect, but at least the Nero vouchers were usually still available throughout the day on Monday. "Now they are limited to people who get up very early in the morning, and are all gone by the time of the later risers." Another posted: "The free Caffe Nero drinks get snapped up so fast now. "I used to be able to get the free Cafe Nero drink as late as Tuesday morning if I forgot (sometimes even later than that). "Now, it's Monday morning and my app says that all the codes have already been redeemed." How to get Greggs for free or cheap A third recently posted: "I'm trying to get a code now. It's 8.40am and all the codes for Neros and Greggs are gone. "Haven't had a code for months, where as I used to be able to pop on at any time of day and get one." Meanwhile, a fourth said: "I used to love getting my weekly cafe Nero drink but over the past couple of months the drinks have been sold out on the app every time I try to get one. "Is there a best time to check to get the code? I thought Sundays but they're still often gone when I look." It is understood the same amount of free hot drinks codes are being issued as before the change. We have asked Octopus Energy when the change was brought in and we will update this story when we have heard back. Octopus Energy launched its Octoplus scheme in October 2023, as exclusively revealed by The Sun. The scheme offers members the chance to earn loyalty points when taking part in energy saving sessions and spinning a virtual wheel of fortune once a week. Members can also get free movies with Rakuten TV and all you can eat breakfasts for £4.99 at Toby Carvery and Stonehouse locations. The Sun asked Octopus Energy to comment. OTHER LOYALTY SCHEME CHANGES The change to the Octoplus scheme comes after a host of rewards scheme shake-ups in recent months. Morrisons recently announced shoppers can now earn points on their More Card by buying products at over 300 brands. Customers can bag the extra points by spending with partners including eBay, Very, Just Eat, ASOS and more. The Central Co-operative also recently revealed it was scrapping its traditional style of membership and rolling out a new benefit system. The retailer has axed the member-pricing model and introduced a cashback rewards scheme. The Sun also exclusively revealed in February that Tesco was trialling personalised discounts for selected shoppers. The "Your Clubcard Prices" update has been rolled out to selected shoppers but not UK-wide. .
