Somerfield toughens up trading rules on alcohol
Trading rules for alcohol sales are being toughened up by somerfield in a bid to combat attempts by underage youngsters to buy alcohol
The new rules, which come into force at 00.01 on Wednesday 16 July, mean that anyone attempting to buy alcohol that appears to be under the age of 25 will have to prove they are over 18 before a sale can be made. Previously, only those customers looking under 21 have been required to provide photographic identification. Somerfield will continue to sell alcohol to those over the age of 18 if suitable identification is provided.
John Cleland, Retail Director for Somerfield, explains: “Attempted purchases of alcohol by or for under age consumers is still a major issue for the retail sector. We all have a responsibility to continually review our policies and controls to remove the possibility of such transactions, and at the same time ensure that our store colleagues are able to minimise the chances of mis-selling alcohol products to those that are not legally entitled to buy them.
“The warm summer months are often more challenging and with this in mind, we have changed our policy for requiring proof of a customer’s age from 21 years to anyone that is fortunate enough to look under 25 years old. This will become our new standard from the 16 July and is underpinned by full retraining of all our service colleagues, clear signage inside and outside stores and regular customer announcements in store.”
