Shieldpay powers payments for initiative to transform pubs into community stores during lockdown

 mypubshop.com from StarStock– gives pubs the ability to take and process orders online, providing them with a valuable income stream while offering their local community access to essential staples such as bread, eggs and milk. The initiative will give pubs the ability to host a web shop, licensees will then select items for their shop ‘inventory’ and pay using Shieldpay, and pubs will operate a customer collection service from their venues.

As half of small businesses only have a large enough cash buffer to allow them to keep business going for 27 days[1], the recent closure of pubs, restaurants, cafes and other leisure centres has put thousands of jobs at risk. While a £330 billion emergency rescue package has been announced by the Government, Shieldpay’s platform ensures payments made through mypubshop.com are secure and, crucially, fast.

For sellers, Shieldpay’s technology verifies the identity of the buyer they are dealing with, meaning they can see the payment up front and have greater control over the release of funds rather than risking non-payment. When a buyer places an order, money for payment is held securely until the goods are delivered. This transparency on both sides alleviates any hesitation, allowing mypubshop.com to scale nationwide.

Tom Squire, Group Commercial Director at Shieldpay, said: “It’s been almost two weeks since pubs across the UK were ordered to close in extraordinary measures, and that is two weeks too long for businesses with limited cashflow to survive. This initiative not only provides support in the local community, but also allows thousands of local suppliers to get involved and we are proud to provide the service that allows everyone to get back into business and be paid on time.

The service is launching in partnership with Brakes, Budweiser Brewing Group, Coca-Cola European Partners and Use Your Local, and is open to pubs across the UK.  The initiative has already won the support of Admiral Taverns, which is making mypubshop available to its 1,000 pubs; Greene King Pub Partners, which operates a tenanted and leased estate of more than 1,000 pubs; and St Austell, which operates an estate of 170 pubs, predominantly in the South West.

Each transaction made via mypubshop will accrue a 2% fee to cover operational costs; however, the venture is being run as a non-profit, with any surplus revenue donated directly to the NHS.

Sam Ulph, Founder & CEO of StarStock, said: “We are all aware of what is happening around us, and in these exceptional times this is a vital way for pubs to stay connected, offer an essential service and to secure an income stream during a period when they are unable to trade in their normal way. It will also help to alleviate the pressure on other grocery shops and the supermarkets.

“This initiative is much more than an online pub service. It’s entirely focused on helping communities and we hope that it will drive positivity for pubs and champion the people that run them as the local heroes they are.”