Top stories in the papers this week 10 – 16 July 2012

Wage rises spark wave of claims by shop staff; BWG Foods launches contactless payment into first stores; Shopkeepers lose up to €14,000 each in €200,000 scam

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16 July 2012

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1. Wage rises spark wave of claims by shop staff

More than 8,000 sales assistants have made claims for pay rises on the back of €700-a-year increases for staff at Marks & Spencer and Tesco. Mandate has sought wage hikes for 3,500 Penneys staff and 700 workers at Boots. The Irish Independent reports the union has also lodged a pay claim for 4,500 members at Dunnes Stores. Mandate’s Gerry Light said Penneys and Boots had agreed to talks, but Dunnes had not yet responded.

2. BWG Foods launches contactless payment into first stores

BWG Foods, has announced its very first Spar, Eurospar, and Mace stores around the country to start accepting contactless payments for transactions up to €15. ShelfLife reports Brady’s Spar, Mulhuddart in Dublin 15, Brogan’s Eurospar, Belmullet in Mayo and Talty’s Mace, Ennis in Clare are pioneering the launch of contactless for each respective retail brand, in conjunction with technology suppliers, CBE.

3. Shopkeepers lose up to €14,000 each in €200,000 scam

Shopkeepers are being alerted to a scam that’s seen around 50 shops lose up to €200,000, The Irish Examiner reports.Some individual outlets have lost up to €14,000 in the scam, which involves callers ringing shops purporting to be an engineer from their card payment processer. The Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) has advised retailers to pass on the scammer’s card number to the IPSO so that the card can be blocked.

4. New Tesco store to provide 150 construction jobs

A new Tesco store, part of a €15m extension to Cork’s Ballincollig Shopping Centre, is set to bring 150 construction jobs over the next year. The Irish Examiner reports the centre’s retail extension may provide a further 200 full and part-time jobs. Work on the 70,000 sq ft store is due to start in September. Tesco will join Dunnes Stores as a second strong anchor in the €500m development on the former military barracks.

5. Shopping centre seeks reopening of anchor store

The owners of Carroll Village shopping centre in Dundalk have brought a legal action aimed at compelling a pension fund to reopen the centre’s anchor store under a 20-year “keep open” clause in the lease. The Irish Times reports Parol Ltd and Carroll Village (Retail) Management Services Ltd says its rental income has been decimated by the closure for the second time of the centre’s anchor store, a Superquinn supermarket.

Also:

DVD store reports profit of €300,000 (Irish Times)

Tax take goes up in smoke (Irish Examiner)

Visa and Mastercard settle case with US retailers over allegedly fixing credit card fees (Newstalk)

Cost of living now at 17-month low (Irish Independent)

Annual inflation rate slows to 1.7% (Irish Times)

Drinks recall to hurt Britvic earnings (Irish Examiner)

Clubs ‘breached spirit’ of judge’s price order (Irish Examiner)

Marks and Spencers sales hit by summer deluge (Irish Independent)

Carrefour defiance revives shares (Irish Times)

Primark and sugar boost Associated British Foods but groceries business suffers (Guardian, UK)

Carrefour sales stagnant in Q2 (Irish Times)