Anger at ban on click & collect option for Mother’s Day flowers

Economy Minister Diane Dodds said her proposal to allow the relaxations has been rejected by others in the NI Executive.

“You’ll be able to buy flowers in any of the multi-nationals, but you won’t be able to go to that small independent retailer and use click & collect,” she tweeted.

Mrs Dodds’ DUP colleague Sir Jeffrey Donaldson described the decision as “simply unjustifiable”.

The Lagan Valley MP said: “This is just plain wrong. We need to offer hope to people and a lifeline to small businesses. Deterring some from the simple act of sending a loved one some flowers for Mother’s Day or Easter in a safe and efficient way is simply unjustifiable.”

In response, Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts tweeted: “Absolutely unbelievable decision Jeffrey – small traders are on their knees and need support.”

Simon Hamilton, chief executive of Belfast Chamber responded saying: “This is, quite frankly, unbelievable. To deny florists (and indeed many other retailers) the ability to safely operate click and collect services is unfair, difficult to justify and won’t instil any hope. Hard to see why the minister’s fairly modest proposal was rejected.”

In an open letter addressed to all elected representatives in Northern Ireland, the proprietors of Hillmount Garden Centre near Belfast, Robin and Alan Mercer, said a click and collect service was the only fair alternative if they are not permitted to open with anti-infection measures in place.

The letter states:

Dear elected representative

“We are acutely aware that the health of the Northern Ireland population should be the utmost priority for us all during the pandemic.

“However we are writing to appeal to you to provide independent garden centre retailers with the same privileges as stores including large multi-national supermarkets eg Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco; and home improvement stores eg B&Q, Homebase and The Range, which are currently selling the products traditionally stocked by garden centres including plants, compost, grass seed, weedkiller, garden furniture and barbecues.

“We would ask you to act quickly and either permit us to open our doors fully, so we can safely welcome customers into our garden centres to shop sensibly at social distance, or at least afford us the right to provide a click and collect service.

“As St Patrick’s Day approaches, our peak spring season is upon us and you will appreciate our products are perishable, so it is frustrating to see that these stores are continuing to trade as normal, while we are on the brink of having to destroy hundreds of thousands of plants which could otherwise be enjoyed by mums across Northern Ireland on Mother’s Day.

“We appreciate that we were among the first businesses to be granted permission to reopen after the first lockdown which proves that you believe in the safe environment in which we operate and you recognise the mental and physical health benefits gardening brings to families throughout the country.

“We would therefore appeal to you to once again put your trust in us, before the plants we have in stock die along with our livelihoods and while those stores as mentioned above unfairly continue to reap the rewards of trading when we cannot.

“Yours faithfully

“Robin Mercer

“Alan Mercer”

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