PayPoint announces £6.6m investment in the Snappy Group
PayPoint has today announced a £6.6m investment in the Snappy Group home delivery business. The deal will see PayPoint acquire a stake in the Dundee-based firm with PayPoint Group’s CEO, Nick Wiles, taking a seat on the Snappy Group board.
The investment follows the announcement last month of a partnership between the two brands, in which PayPoint One EPOS customers will be given access to the Snappy Shopper platform, and with it the ability to offer home delivery and click-and-collect options to local shoppers.
Consumer demand for local home delivery has exploded over the past 18 months with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating growth and businesses across the UK needing tech-driven, cost-effective digital solutions to service their local communities. The appetite for shopping local is showing no signs of slowing, with PayPoint research conducted earlier in the year confirming that two in three people said their local convenience store has become more important to them over the past 12 months and over a quarter will continue to do more local shopping as restrictions ease.
This commercial agreement, signed this week, is a firm commitment from PayPoint to offer more added value services and growth opportunities to its convenience retail partners and to help them expand the reach of their stores to more customers in their local communities.
Nick Wiles, Chief Executive of PayPoint, said: “We’re delighted to be investing into the Snappy Group business, building on the partnership that we announced recently to integrate their home delivery and click and collect technology with our own. This investment will enable PayPoint and our network of convenience retailer partners to remain at the forefront of retail and consumer trends.”
Mike Callachan, Co-founder of the Snappy Group, added: “Demand for the fundraise exceeded our expectations and we are pleased to have attracted such high-profile investors. Post lockdown the demand for home delivery and the desire to shop locally is greater than ever, but the increasing number of anonymous dark stores is a threat to local businesses and communities, which must not be underestimated. We are well placed to empower local business to offer another great service to their customers, and better compete in this fast-changing retail market.”
-ENDS–
Enquiries
PayPoint plcFinsbury Nick Wiles, Chief Executive (Mobile: 07768636801)Rollo Head Alan Dale, Finance Director (Mobile: 07778043962)Nidaa Lone (Telephone: 0207 251 3801) (Email: Paypoint@finsbury.com)
About PayPoint
For tens of thousands of businesses and their customers, we make life and payments more convenient.
For retailers, we offer innovative and time-saving technology that empowers them to achieve higher footfall and increased spend so they can grow their businesses profitably. Our innovative retail services platform, PayPoint One, is now live in over 17,800 shops in the UK and offers everything a modern convenience store needs. More broadly, we also provide card payments services to thousands of growing businesses across the convenience retail, hospitality, auto trade, clothing and households goods sectors. Our technology helps companies to serve customers quickly, improve business efficiency and modernise their operations.
For clients of all sizes, we also provide market-leading payments technologies without the need for capital investment. Our seamlessly integrated omnichannel solution – MultiPay – is a one-stop shop for digital and other customer payments, via any channel and on any device.
Together, these solutions help millions of consumers to control their household finances, make essential payments and access services like cash withdrawals, eMoney and parcel collections and drop-offs. Our UK network of more than 28,000 stores is bigger than all banks, supermarkets and Post Offices together, putting us at the heart of communities nationwide.
About the SnappyGroup
The Snappy Group is formed of two businesses, Snappy Shopper Ltd and Hungrrr Ltd, operating in the growing UK convenience grocery sector and the hospitality sector respectively.
Launched in Dundee in December 2017, Snappy Shopper is a technology solution provider that connects communities with their local businesses. Via its app and website consumers can order groceries from their local convenience store and have them delivered by the store’s own drivers to their homes in as little as 30 minutes. No longer solely reliant on footfall, this allows retailers to extend their customer base and service, as well as compete in this fast-growing home delivery market. This not only caters to the trend for top up shopping but also an increasing desire by consumers to access and support local businesses. Retailers can increase revenues significantly with average basket spend more than trebling online, while maintaining their in-store pricing. The Company currently serves retailers from most major players and has partnership agreements with several regional Co-op’s, Nisa and SPAR.
Hungrrr, launched in 2016, offers the hospitality sector, including restaurants, hotels and stadia, affordable solutions to take online orders, whether that is ordering drinks to a table in a pub, breakfast to a hotel room or pre-ordering food at a major sporting event. The platform’s white label functionality and branding can be tailored to each client which has proven attractive to businesses such as Hilton, BrewDog and Subway.
The Group has 1540 business partners today with more than 1 million users across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Annualised Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) is £132m.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
