The owners of the fashion retail giant, Associated British Foods (ABF), have announced that it will trial a click and collect service later this year.
Primark has confirmed that a long-awaited click and collect service is to be trialled at 25 stores across the North West.
The service will be available on a huge range that 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.
The trial will begin towards the end of the year.
Image: Primark
“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.
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.
In honour of National Chocolate Week, two big brands are joining forces.
Fancy a freebie? Silly question, of course you do.
Tony’s Chocolonely and Yorkshire Tea have joined forces for National Chocolate Week to ask Brits to declare themselves a ‘Melt’...yes, really.
It comes after the brands discovering a new Gen Z dunking trend, with research finding that 80% of 18–24-year-olds say chocolate is their preferred tea-dunking treat.
To understand why the perculiar pairing has become so popular, the brands recruited Associate Professor of Psychobiology, Dr Lorenzo Stafford, to investigate what happens when tea and chocolate come together.
Associate Professor, Dr Lorenzo Stafford said: "It's fascinating to see how much thought Brits put into what makes a great dunk. Flavour, texture and temperature all shape how we experience food, and the combination of hot tea with melting chocolate creates a particularly enjoyable sensory experience.
"When it comes to dunking, tea and chocolate have great chemistry so it’s no surprise young people have embraced it."
If you want to try it out for yourself, then you can for free - but there is one catch.
From Monday 19 to Friday 23 October, anyone who walks into one of Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds and says ‘I'm a Melt’ will get a free mug of Yorkshire Tea and bar of Tony's Chocolonely.
Not only that, but the first 100 customers will also get a limited-edition ‘Melt’ cap.
Yorkshire Tea & Tony’s Chocolonely said of the partnership, “Brits love their tea and their chocolate and now the science shows why. This National Chocolate Week, we’re inviting everyone to give it a go, embrace their inner Melt and discover just how well chunky chocolate and a proper brew can work together.”
Leeds Bradford Airport strikes will NOT go ahead following ‘late offer’ over pay
Clementine Hall
This weekend's strikes at Leeds Bradford Airport have been cancelled.
Around 130 workers were set to walk out this weekend, Unite said, but this has been suspended to allow air traffic controllers to consider a new pay offer.
The Unite members planning on to go on strike were a mixture of air traffic control workers, customer experience staff, security staff and cleaners.
The workers involved in the dispute had recently come out of a four-year pay deal, with some of the departments having fallen behind other airports in equivalent roles.
Pay talks have been happening since December 2025, with the airport's formal offer not going far enough to address the lack of pay parity which led to the decision to strike.
However, as of yesterday 15 October, the workers have been given new pay offers from the airport and the strikes will not take place to allow a ballot on the offers.
Air traffic controllers and hourly paid staff are being balloted separately on their respective offers.
Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said: "After receiving offers from Leeds Bradford Airport, we have suspended this week’s strike action in good faith to allow members to vote on pay deals.”
In a statement, Leeds Bradford Airport said: "While the ballot process continues with certain members of our frontline colleagues, we remain hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved and that an agreement can be reached which works for everyone involved.
"Regardless of the outcome of this ballot, LBA has a robust contingency plan in place and will be operating as normal this weekend.
"Our focus remains on supporting a smooth and reliable experience for customers while maintaining safe and efficient airport operations."
The Hoot -
20th June 2022 
