ACS Blog

We’re hearing lots of talk in this election campaign about high streets, and that’s really good news. I could dwell on a technical point here: most convenience stores trade away from major centres and in our heartland of housing estates and villages, in fact the places close to where most of the electorate live and where they want to see government support directed.

We will hear a lot about crime in this election campaign. This week I gave a keynote address at an event on shop theft and retail crime, attended by the police, some parliamentary candidates and lots of retailers. My main reflection that I want to feed into the rest of the election campaign is that there are two types of conversation that happen when we talk about crime - we need to decide which one we want to centre in this campaign.

… and they’re off. The election campaign is underway and the candidates are seeking your vote. Just as they vie for your attention, so groups like ACS try to engage with the MPs, ministers and leaders of the future, explaining why our sector matters and what they can do to help us.

It's frustrating that policy-makers still seem to think that banning something will mean it ceases to exist. The Scottish Government has published the statutory instrument it will use to ban disposable vapes and by the time you read this Westminster may well have followed suit, with both jurisdictions deliberately using the parliamentary mechanism that will attract the least debate and attention. 

Our Forecourt, Power and Convenience Conference was a real success, and I wanted to share some of the things I learned:

Earlier this week I attended the launch of Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber’s Retail Crime Strategy, and it was good to see some of our members there as well as senior police officers, other businesses and the media.

Over the past couple of months we’ve seen a discernible shift in the tone of debate about shop theft and retail crime. Our own crime report, and the Co-op’s research on crime in their business, has provided a powerful evidence base. We’re seeing better engagement from Police & Crime Commissioners and local forces, and crucially we’re now hearing Ministers talking about the seriousness of shop theft and the need for penalties to be consistent with this. There’s also been a lot more interest in the media.

The Local Government Association has called for a ban on disposable vapes by 2024. I wanted to reflect on why this group positing this sort of “solution” is a clickbait contribution to the debate on vaping. 

The dust has settled a little on the postponement of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme until October 2025, and the collapse of Circularity Scotland. Our Government Relations Director Ed Woodall has been at the heart of discussions on DRS in Scotland and across the UK, so I’m passing this blog to him to reflect on what we’ve learned and where we go next…

In all my time in this industry, I can’t remember a category that’s sprung onto the market with the scale and impact of so-called “disposable” vapes. I’ll talk below about why I think this is the wrong term to use, but regardless of that, this has become a huge part of many convenience store businesses. This brings with it some challenging regulatory issues that we’re now facing into. Whether through the government’s tobacco strategy or through separate legislation, we’re highly likely to see more regulation of these products within the next few years.