Devon retailers Lesley and Bill Brown have made a new year's resolution to sort out the small problems with manufacturers' packaging that add frustration and delay to their day.

The couple, who own Frankmarsh Stores in Barnstaple, told C-Store that they have a wish list that they would like suppliers to act upon to help out independent retailers.

"For example, we'd like to ask Nestlé to put best before dates on the top of the wrapper and not under the flap," said Lesley.

"We are experiencing problems with scanning Mars bagged lines as the barcode goes around the corner, meaning we have to twist the bags to scan," she continued. "And Kepak - the barcodes of your Rustlers Quarters Pounders never scan.

"Coca Cola - smaller outer sizes would help smaller shops like ours stock more of your range. Of the Zero range, we only stock Fanta, because we can buy 12 at a time.

"And can lager manufacturers stop printing deals directly on the cans? This causes problems on epos systems as if a customer wants to only buy one it comes up as four."

What packaging changes would make your life easier? Let us know on 01293 846505 or email david.visick@william-reed.co.uk.