News

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.

New evidence from ACS’ Employment Survey and ACS’ Colleague Survey shows the convenience sector continues to deliver secure and flexible employment to 437,000 colleagues across the country.  

98% of colleagues working in the convenience sector are on permanent contracts and as a result 83% of colleagues feel secure in their current role. The majority of colleagues are also drawn from the local community with 47% walking to work with an average commute time of just 13 minutes per day.

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.

With the general election taking place on the 4th July, ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) are calling on all retailers to seize this as an opportunity to meet with local parliamentary candidates standing in their constituency and highlight the important work they do in the sector by inviting candidates to visit local shops.

Today (June 5th) marks the day that the new banknotes featuring the portrait of King Charles III enters circulation. Appearing on all four banknotes (£5, £10, £20, and £50), the new notes will co-circulate with existing Queen Elizabeth II notes, which are to remain legal tender.

The Association of Convenience Stores has launched a new Election Pack for retailers, helping its members to make the most out of General Election campaigning activity.

The pack, which is being mailed to thousands of stores in the coming days, sets out what retailers need to make the case for local shops both locally and nationally. The pack includes the following:

The Labour Party recently published their updated New Deal for Working People detailing plans to address issues such as insecure work, low pay, and exploitative contracts and pledges to “move towards” a simpler two-part employment status framework. Below is a breakdown of Labour’s five key proposals:

… 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.

Content provided by Club supplier Henderson Technology. More information about Club is available here: https://www.acs.org.uk/about-us/suppliers/club

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The latest banknotes with the new King Charles III designs will enter circulation next week on 5 June 2024, and retailers should prepare themselves on how to spot counterfeit notes with the incoming banknote designs.