Aldi has revealed plans to deliver groceries to homes in the UK for the first time through a partnership with Deliveroo.

The move being trialled south of the Border initially will allow customers to order from more than 150 Aldi products through the Deliveroo app to be delivered "in as little as 30 minutes".

Products will be picked and packed by Aldi workers in stores before being delivered by Deliveroo's network of riders.

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Aldi said the trial will initially offer a range of essential items, such as bread, milk and fresh produce.

The trials follow Aldi's recent move into online food parcels during the pandemic as customer demand for online grocery deliveries has surged in recent weeks.

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: "We hope the new trial with Deliveroo will provide more customers with access to great quality, affordable food at Aldi.

"This is a new and exciting venture for Aldi and we will be constantly reviewing how we can best serve our customers and continue to provide them with the high quality products they are used to in store."

Ajay Lakhwani, Deliveroo's vice-president of new business, said: "At Deliveroo, we are doing everything we can to make sure that people get the food they need and want during this unprecedented time.

"We are pleased to partner with Aldi and deliver even more choice to our customers as they continue to keep safe at home."

The discount supermarket chain said it will launch the trial on Monday in Nottingham, before extending the trial to other stores.

Deliveroo has also recently extended its grocery delivery service with M&S and launched a tie-up with Morrisons to courier food from 130 stores.

A group of angry Hiscox policyholders have been given the go-ahead to launch legal action against the insurance giant.

The Hiscox Action Group - which was set up by policyholders frustrated by Hiscox's decision to exclude coronavirus disruption from its business interruption policies - said it intends to launch a claim in the coming days.

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Mishcon de Reya, the city law firm leading the case, says that over 400 policyholders have signed up with almost £40 million in claims against the insurer.

The law firm is expected to file an "expedited arbitration claim" and has advised members of the group that the action has "good chance" of success.

Simon Ager, of the Hiscox Action Group, said: "Everyone has been working really hard to move this claim forward.

"For many of our members, this insurance is the difference between survival and bankruptcy, and we are determined that they should get the money they are entitled to as soon as possible."

A Hiscox spokeswoman said: "We understand these are difficult times for businesses and we are paying claims that are covered by the policies we issue fairly and quickly.

"As the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has said, most UK small business policies across the industry do not cover pandemics.

"As we have said previously, we welcome all steps to expedite resolution of any dispute and we look forward to working with policyholders to achieve this."

There could be a "massive rise" in Scotland's jobless total as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, MSPs have been warned, with not all companies able to open up again once lockdown restrictions are eased.

Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said its latest tracker research, from last week, found 43% of businesses "did not have confidence that they are actually going to survive this crisis".

She told MSPs on Holyrood's Economy Committee that even when guidance on returning to work is published, some firms are "not certain if they will return to the markets".

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Ms Cameron warned: "Even with the job retention scheme, I unfortunately think there is going to be a massive rise in unemployment when we begin to look at the capacity issues."

The UK Government has picked up 80% of the wage bill for staff who are not able to work due to the pandemic.

Tracy Black, the director of CBI Scotland, said some firms may only be able to operate at 60% of the capacity they did before the outbreak - questioning if that would make it viable for them to continue.

She told MSPs: "Because social distancing is probably going to be with us for a long, long time, the harsh reality is even if you go to shift work, night shifts, change your production lines, the reality is it unlikely certainly in manufacturing you will be able to get up to full capacity.

"Talking to some of our members, they reckon they will be probably operating at around 60% - at best they might get up to 80% - and for many companies that just isn't a viable proposition any more, particularly if you work in those industries that have very tight margins, like automotive and aerospace."

She said this is a "real concern" and "tailored support for different sectors that will take time to recover" will need to be put in place.

Susan Love, policy manager at the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, said its survey of around 800 small businesses "suggested about half of businesses in Scotland have closed as a result of the crisis and worryingly of that half that have closed, just over a third worry about whether they will ever reopen again".

When it comes to easing lockdown restrictions on companies, CBI Scotland said it will "strongly urge" the Scottish Government to look at recent guidance produced by UK ministers.

The Scottish Government has established working groups in 14 different sectors of the economy to look at how businesses can get back to work safely.

Ms Black said: "Many firms work across multiple environments so it is quite hard to fit them into that sector approach.

"For example, a construction company will have offices, it might be working outdoors, indoors, in vehicles.

"Large retailers will have offices, manufacturing, warehouses, stores, delivery staff."

She added: "In England, they produced clear stated goals for when businesses can reopen, we have seen the same in Ireland we have seen the same in Norway.

"These timelines can absolutely be flexible and they of course must be set by the science and medical community.

"But they give a clear outline to business, because they can't just restart overnight, they need to get their supply chain back in place, they need to get their staff brained up on social distancing measures and they need to look at their cash flow.

"This is where this unified approach is absolutely critical."