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Tesco has warned customers they could miss out on hundreds of pounds if they fail to use Clubcard vouchers before the end of November. The chain said £16.5 million-worth of vouchers held by shoppers are set to expire at the end of this month. The vouchers, which are valid for two years, need to be exchanged before midnight on the evening of November 30. The expiring Clubcard vouchers can go towards the cost of the weekly shop, to pay for fuel or to pick up a new deal with Tesco Mobile. Customers can also exchange them for double their value with more than 100 Clubcard reward partners , or can even take advantage of some great new Reward Partner deals. These include the new Tesco Tuesdays offer with Cineworld , with Clubcard members able to get cinema tickets for Tuesday showings for just £5 (£2.50 in Clubcard Vouchers), and the amazing new triple value voucher offer with PizzaExpress, meaning £10 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be redeemed for a code for £30 off food at the iconic pizzeria. Tesco Group Membership and Loyalty Director Shama Wilson said: “We don’t want anyone to miss out on making the most of their Tesco Clubcard Vouchers, and with some great new offers with Clubcard Rewards this really is a great time to use those vouchers up. “The value of vouchers expiring is higher than usual this quarter , and if all the vouchers expiring were used for Tesco Tuesdays it would be enough to get 6.6million cinema tickets at Cineworld. If they were exchanged with PizzaExpress they could secure an amazing £49.5million of reward codes towards food, so it really is worth checking in the Tesco app to see if you have any vouchers expiring.” Tesco Clubcard members can earn Clubcard points in a variety of ways, including using their Clubcard when they shop or purchase fuel at Tesco, or when they charge electric vehicles at Pod charging facilities at Tesco stores. Today, more than 24 million UK households have a Tesco Clubcard and members can keep tabs on all the latest Clubcard Reward Partner deals with the Tesco app. Meanwhile the boss of Tesco this week made a plea to the Government to not “make it harder” for the grocery sector to keep prices low for customers ahead of the autumn Budget , despite revealing profits could surpass £3 billion this year. Households budgets remain squeezed and shoppers are increasingly seeking out value, according to the UK’s biggest supermarket. Ken Murphy, Tesco’s chief executive, said he was hoping the autumn Budget would not put additional pressure on grocers that are already facing much steeper business costs. “What we’d love to see is a Budget that’s pro-growth and pro-jobs which, as a result, will help customers with the cost of living,” Mr Murphy said. “We know that people are worried about what lies ahead and we’re seeing that in the consumer sentiment. As a food retailer, we operate in a very competitive and very tough environment, and I think our one ask is don’t make it harder for the industry to deliver great value for customers. “In the last budget, the industry incurred substantial additional operating costs. We’re doing our best to deal with them but enough is enough.” Tesco has said the higher rate of employer national insurance added some £235 million to its yearly costs, while new packaging taxes added about £90 million. Mr Murphy said Tesco was “betting on a good Christmas ”, with consumers likely to approach the festive season in an “affordable and manageable” way. The boss said the industry remains “incredibly competitive” amid a price war heating up among rival supermarkets , and he was expecting that to continue into the second half of the year. Tesco also called for large retail stores to be excluded from a higher rate of tax in government business rates reforms which are expected to be introduced next year. Mr Murphy said: “In many cases they’re the anchor tenant for a shopping centre or a high street – they are what draws all the other smaller retailers to that location and therefore their viability is hugely important to many, many high streets across the country. “We genuinely believe it’s very important that all large premises are excluded from the higher rate of business rates.” It comes amid a report in the Financial Times that the Treasury is looking at taking large shops, including supermarkets, out of its highest bracket for the property tax because of criticism from high street bosses.
