Welwyn Garden City, 6th April 2021: PayPoint is marking 12 months of crucial work by a selection of its most celebrated retailers with a new campaign to mark their achievements during the Covid-19 pandemic. Taking place over the coming weeks, PayPoint will shine a light on partners who have won its ‘Retail Hero’ accolade – a monthly award that recognises individuals who have been an inspiration to their peers and customers over the past year, delivering essential services and vital support to their communities.  

The award has been won by retailers up and down the country who have innovated and adapted to support their local communities during the pandemic; from free delivery services to the vulnerable, raising money for worthy local causes and continually going above and beyond to ensure their community members have the essential supplies needed to manage in lockdown. This includes:

• Mr and Mrs Ford, who operate a Budgens in Barnsley. The husband and wife team have introduced a delivery service to those most vulnerable in their community to ensure that no one goes without.
• Mr Imran Hamid, at the Day-Today Express in Dennyloanhead, Falkirk. Mr Hamid noticed all the nearby charity shops were closed during lockdown and that fundraising was limited, so he started a collection in-store for the local hospice. 
• Mrs Dancy Stephen and Mr Nallanthamby Suthkaran, who run three sites in the Midlands. During lockdown, they sourced additional essential stock they would not normally supply to help their customers who would otherwise struggle to access these items.

The campaign will run across PayPoint’s social channels, website and email newsletter, thanking its partners for the hard work they have put in to help others over the past year. It will also highlight specific regional data sets demonstrating the impact of retailers in their local area. 

Ben Ford, Retail Services Director, PayPoint said: “Our entire network of retailer partners has shown great courage and resilience over the past year and this campaign will shine a light on 12 of the many thousands of our partners who have gone above and beyond. The stories we have heard of how retailers are continuing to support communities by offering delivery, adapting their stores and sourcing stock, have been remarkable and continue to inspire us, their peers and the customers they serve. PayPoint would like to thank all our retailer partners for standing tall and offering essential services throughout the most difficult of times.”