Press Releases

ACS has responded to the publication of the Office for National Statistics annual Crime Survey for England and Wales, urging retailers to report incidents of shop theft when they occur.

According to the ONS survey, which covers the whole of retail, the number of police recorded shop theft incidents for the year ending September 2018 decreased by 1% to 378,656 offences.

LINK, the UK’s main cash machine network, has announced that cash machine operators are to be given “super premiums” from April, to help keep ATMs in remote areas open.

The new super premium will be paid by banks to ATM operators where cash machines are located in remote and less well-off parts of the country.

ACS has welcomed new commitments on tackling retail crime announced by Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins MP, and has urged Government to ensure that tackling shop theft is included in their work to deal with violent crime.

In a letter to MPs and organisations (including ACS) who attended a ministerial roundtable meeting on retail crime on December 11^th, Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins MP has set out a number of commitments to address the issue of violence and abuse against retailers.

New research published today (15^th January) by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) reveals the growing importance of local shops to people in Wales.

The 2019 Welsh Local Shop Report shows how convenience stores are supporting communities by providing thousands of jobs, stepping in to ensure that essential services like access to cash are still available, and investing millions to ensure that they stay relevant in the face of competition from larger stores and online businesses.

Key figures from the report include:

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on reducing harms from high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products, raising concerns about proposals to restrict the location of confectionery, biscuits, crisps and other products can be sold

The consultation proposes a range of measures to restrict the ways that HFSS products can be sold, including restrictions on:

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the latest findings of the independent Access to Cash review, which has published an interim report suggesting that Britain is not yet ready to go cashless.

The Access to Cash Review, chaired by Natalie Ceeney CBE, highlights the overall decline in the use of cash in the UK, as well as a fall in ATM use and an increase in the number of businesses that are becoming cashless.

The Government have today published their “Good Work Plan” setting out a new legislative approach to employment rights and status.

The Good Work Plan confirms the Government’s intention to legislate to introduce rights for all workers to request a more predictable and stable contract, the right to a day one written statement for all workers and employees, and improve clarity on employment status workers.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the Mayor of London’s new Food Strategy which sets out the Mayor’s plans to ensure all Londoners have access to healthy and sustainable food.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed an announcement from the Welsh Government, which has confirmed an extension to the high street rates relief scheme for 2019-20.

Eligible businesses will receive up to £2,500 off their business rates bills, with properties with a rateable value up to £9,100 paying no rates at all. The Welsh Government estimates that 15,000 retailers in Wales with a rateable value of up to £50,000 will benefit from the scheme.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has published the findings of its inquiry into the sale of energy drinks, concluding that there is insufficient evidence for a blanket age restriction on the products.