Primark has confirmed that a long-awaited click and collect service is to be trialled at dozens of its North West stores.
The owners of the fashion retail giant, Associated British Foods (ABF), has announced that it will trial a click and collect service on an expanded range of children’s products, and has revealed that the trial is set to take place in up to 25 stores in the northwest of England.
The range includes about 2,000 items across clothing, accessories, and lifestyle products.
After it was revealed last year that Primark was to launch a new website where shoppers would be able to see what products were available to buy in their local branch before they arrive in store, Associated British Foods has now said that it believes that click and collect has the potential to “satisfy unfulfilled demand”.
It also believes the trial would drive footfall to high streets across North West England, both from existing and new customers.
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The trial will begin towards the end of the year.
“We have chosen a much-expanded range of children’s products for this trial, which we believe has the potential to satisfy unfulfilled demand, driving footfall from both existing and new customers to deliver incremental sales in store,” ABF said as part of a trading update.
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The trial is set to take place in up to 25 stores in the North West this year / Credit: Primark
The trial will also include nursery furniture that the retailer said would be “particularly attractive for our customers who do not regularly shop in our larger stores”.
ABF added: “This trial will enable us to provide more fashion, licence and lifestyle products to more customers and more often. In-store collection will be available from designated areas, designed to be welcoming and situated in the heart of the store”.
In-store returns will be also be offered free as part of the trial, ABF confirmed.
The announcement of the click and collect trial comes as ABF issued a trading statement showing that sales at Primark were up 81% over the 12 weeks to 28 May compared with the same period in 2021, at £1.7 billion.
The company also confirmed that sales in the quarter were also 4% higher than the same period in 2019, just ahead of the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK.
Featured Image – Primark
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Drinks prices revealed as Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub opens inside T2
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… Manchester Airport’s first-ever JD Wetherspoon pub has officially opened its doors inside Terminal 2.
The 300-seater pub – which welcomed its first customers earlier this week – is named The Belle Vue after Manchester’s historic showground.
Throughout the pub, you’ll spot design features that nod to the city’s sporting heritage – including vintage event posters and memorabilia, a ‘locker wall’ hosting trophies and other sporting exhibits, and a cricket-themed design in the carpets and bar panels.
Creating around 150 jobs in the process, The Belle Vue is the final planned new eatery to open in the airport’s redeveloped Terminal 2, marking one of the final steps in the super-terminal’s decade-long, £1.5bn transformation.
Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub has opened inside Terminal 2 / Credit: Supplied
According to the MEN, pints are priced from £6.20 for Carling and Coors lager, £6.45 for Budweiser, £6.60 for Guinness, and £6.70 for Poretti and 1664 Biere.
Prosecco is £9.20 for 175ml glass and £37.10 for the full bottle, while spirts and mixers are £6.80 for singles and £10.20 for doubles.
There’s also the classic Wetherspoons tea and coffee machines, where you can refill as many times as you like for just £3.60.
“It’s a proud moment to see the final new retail unit opening in our new-look Terminal 2,” commented Richard Jackson, who is the Retail Director at Manchester Airport.
“To be rounding off this 10-year programme by adding such an iconic name as Wetherspoon to the terminal is particularly special and we know that it will prove extremely popular with passengers. We think they’ll love the nods to Manchester’s heritage in the décor and design – and of course the name.”
The Belle Vue will be open from the first flight to the final flight each day, and food will be served from opening until 10pm.
Featured Image – Supplied
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Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Emily Sergeant -
20th June 2022 
