Shopkeeper refuses to serve people who want to buy anything for less than £1 with a banknote

A shopkeeper is refusing to serve anyone who spends less than £1 in his convenience store if they want to pay with banknotes. Jack Randhawa, 33, who runs Jack's News & Booze in Halesowen, West Midlands said: “I was fed up with people coming into the shop and buying an item for as little as 5p.



“We have had up to 100 people in a day doing this , so I have finally taken action.” Jack bought the business two years ago and, at first, accepted payment in notes for small purchases until he decided enough was enough. Now, he has posted a notice in the glass door of the shop.

In capital letters, the notice reads: “URGENT CUSTOMER NOTICE: MINIMUM SPEND OF £1.00 WHEN PAYING WITH NOTES! CHANGE WILL NOT BE GIVEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE UNLESS SPENDING OVER £1.00.” Jack explains: “Although I worked in retail previously, this is the first business I have owned. Since buying the shop, trade has increased by 40 per cent so I must be doing something right.



“But the £1 policy has led to some members of the public making unpleasant remarks – and even racial abuse – but I am not budging. I am not a miserable or unhelpful person but my bank charges me for changing money, and I don’t want to carry a large float of coins in the shop because of security and staff safety considerations. I sell sweets for as little as 5p and until I imposed the minimum purchase limit people might hand over a £20 note so I had to give them £19.95 in change.”