Press Releases

ACS has welcomed the publication of new guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the details of how business rates discounts first announced in this year’s Budget will be allocated.

During the Budget on October 29^th, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that businesses with a rateable value of under £51,000k would receive a 1/3 discount on their rates bills.

Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins has agreed to meet with retail representative bodies and trade unions to discuss violence against retailers and shopworkers following amendments tabled to the Offence Weapons Bill by David Hanson MP.

In a letter to the Treasury, ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is calling for the implementation of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT to be delayed until 2020, following a report from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub Committee .

MTD is changing the way retailers submit their VAT return from April 2019, requiring them to keep their VAT records digitally and use software to submit returns. The policy reforms aim to reduce the tax gap and help businesses have a more accurate overview of their tax affairs.

The Low Pay Commission has published a report outlining their recommendations for the April 2019 National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates. The report evaluates the impact of the NLW so far and found that as many as 5 million people benefited from the increase in April 2018.

ACS has welcomed a report from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub-Committee, which urges HMRC to delay the mandatory introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT from April 2019 until at least 2020.

MTD is changing the way retailers submit their VAT returns, requiring them to keep their VAT records digitally and use software to submit returns. The policy reforms aim to reduce the tax gap and help businesses have a more accurate overview of their tax affairs.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation which proposed to introduce a legal age restriction for energy drinks.  

In the submission, ACS set out that if the government decides to introduce a legal age restriction for energy drinks that they will work with the government to promote compliance in the convenience sector through its Assured Advice scheme, which is approved by Surrey and Buckinghamshire Trading Standards.

The winners of the 2018 Great British High Street Awards (GBHS) have been announced. The awards, run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and sponsored by Visa, recognise and celebrate the local achievements of the nation’s high streets.

The independent judging panel selected the shortlisted finalists for the Champion and Rising Star awards. These 38 shortlisted finalists were visited by GBHS judges to assess who would be crowned the winners of the 2018 Awards and the public given the chance to vote for their favourite high street.

ACS has welcomed the Environmental Audit Committee’s report into hand car washes, which recommends the government takes further action to tackle illegal hand car wash operators.

The report recommended: “To make enforcement easier, the Government should trial a licensing scheme for hand car washes that brings together all of the major compliance requirements, including on environmental pollution, into a single, more easily enforceable, legal requirement.”

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is calling on the government to introduce new protections for shop workers.

ACS is supporting David Hanson MP’s amendment to the Offensive Weapons Bill that would introduce additional protections for shopworkers who are abused or suffer violent attacks when refusing sales of corrosive substances. The new measures should reflect the protections  assaults against NHS workers ‘aggravated’ and therefore receive more scrutiny and punishment from the justice system.

ACS is calling on retailers to share their experiences of retail crime over the last 12 months as part of the annual ACS Crime Survey 2019.

The survey looks at the impact that crime is having on retailers’ businesses, including the number of incidents they have experienced and how much crime has cost their business in the last 12 months. The survey also considers the causes of these crimes and the measures retailers have in place to prevent crime in their stores.