Press Releases

ACS has welcomed energy regulator Ofgem’s announcement of a mandatory 12-month limit on backbilling for microbusinesses.

Ofgem’s announcement states: ‘Many suppliers have signed up to, or follow, a voluntary agreement not to backbill customers past 12 months. However, the voluntary agreement does not cover all suppliers, and those that have signed up do not always follow this agreement. Ofgem, which consulted on this issue last year, has decided to ban all domestic and microbusiness suppliers from issuing backbills for energy used more than 12 months ago.’ 

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed comments from the Exchequer Secretary, who said that the Government would hold LINK to account on their commitment to do ‘whatever it takes’ to protect the broad geographic spread of ATMs. 
 

ACS has responded to the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, welcoming the government’s ambition to reduce the impact of single-use plastics, including action to extend plastic bag charging.

The Environment Plan was announced in January by Prime Minister Theresa May, setting out a range of targets to improve the environment and increase recycling rates. 

Victoria Atkins MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, will address the 2018 Crime Seminar on 20^th March, detailing the Government’s strategy to tackle crimes committed against retailers. 

The Crime Seminar will feature a first look at the 2018 Crime Report, detailing the impact of crime on the convenience sector from shop theft and fraud to abuse, violent incidents and burglaries.

Convenience stores in Wales have invested over £49m in improving their businesses over the last year, according to new figures released by the Association of Convenience Stores today.

The ACS 2018 Welsh Local Shop Report outlines the huge contribution that convenience stores in Wales make to their local communities, as an employer, and to the Welsh economy.

ACS has condemned a move from LINK, which has today confirmed that it will reduce the interchange fee for card transactions by 5p over the next four years.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Banks have been cutting back their own branch networks, and now they are reducing the interchange fees that fund the network of ATMs provided by retailers and private companies in places that banks have abandoned.  We are concerned that this will lead to a reduction in the number of ATMs, and their reach and accessibility for all types of communities.

The UK’s rural shops have invested over £315m over the last year, introducing services like contactless payment, in-store bakeries and Post Office counters to meet the needs of customers in rural areas.

Tickets are now on sale for ACS Summit18, the unmissable and leading industry event for the convenience sector. This year’s conference is now less than three months away and will take place at The Vox, Resorts World, Birmingham on the 17^th of April.

ACS’ Summit is the annual premier convenience store event, bringing together hundreds of retailers, suppliers and industry experts from around the globe in a debate about the future of the convenience store industry in the UK. 

ACS has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of the Government’s long-term plan to protect the environment, including measures to reduce plastic packaging, with specific proposals to extend the 5p charge on single use plastic bags to all retailers in England.

In the announcements made today, the government state that they “want to extend the scheme so that small retailers also charge for bags. We’ll first be looking at voluntary agreements with the industry to achieve this, before we consider making this compulsory.”

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the publication of an Environmental Audit Committee report which calls for the introduction of a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles, urging the Government to consider the impact that DRS would have on small retailers.