Press Releases

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to figures on business rate reliefs released today by the Department for Communities and Local Government, calling for an extension of the business rate discount for small businesses.

The figures show that local authorities granted £1,061 million in relief under the Small Business Rate Relief scheme in 2014-15, up 7.7% on the previous year. Additionally, the amount of relief granted to empty premises fell 4.2% to £947m.

ACS has called on the chancellor to take action on business rates, employment costs and drop proposals to devolve Sunday trading rules in its submission to the Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement on 25th November.

ACS has warned the Low Pay Commission that the upcoming introduction of the Living Wage will force retailers to scale back their business plans.

In an oral evidence session, ACS Head of Policy and Public Affairs Edward Woodall outlined the issues that retailers will face when having to fund a £7.20 wage rate for over 25s in their business.

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies has outlined his support for retaining the existing Sunday trading regulations in a visit to a SPAR store in his constituency.

The store owners, Matthew and Huw Jones, raised concerns about the impact that longer opening hours for larger stores on Sundays would have on their business.

The current, popular Sunday trading regulations are at risk of being removed by central Government, who want to devolve the power to set trading hours to local authorities.

The Association of Convenience Stores has labelled the Prime Minister’s response to a question on Sunday trading as 'ill-informed' and 'incorrect' on key details of the current law and the debate about devolving decision-making to local authorities.

MPs from a range of political parties have raised concerns in parliament about the government's plans to devolve decisions on Sunday trading to local authorities.

Many MPs were expecting the proposals to be included as an amendment to the Cities & Devolution Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday.  However, this clause was not proposed as an amendment at this stage, with ministers not confirming if and when this policy would be brought into legislation.

ACS has welcomed the Sentencing Council’s new sentencing guidelines for shop theft which emphasise the emotional distress, property damage and the effect on the business when sanctioning offenders.

The guidelines, used by judges and magistrates to decide the appropriate sentence for a criminal offence, introduces a new approach to assessing the harm of shop theft to take into account the wider impact the crime has on its victims.

However, ACS raises concerns that the guidelines do not include a separate assessment for repeat offenders.

ACS has responded to the chancellor’s announcement on locally set business rates, raising concerns that rates could rise for local businesses.

In his speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today, the chancellor, George Osborne, has announced that he will “abolish” the current system of business rates and replace it with a system which allows local authorities to set business rates themselves.

In response to the Institute of Licensing consultation on template licensing conditions ACS has raised concerns that the proposal are unworkable.

ACS chief executive, James Lowman said: “Effective licencing conditions must be based on local evidence and tailored to each premise.  Template licensing condition, as proposed in the consultation, is likely to result in blanket condition that are not relevant to individual local shops – we urge the Institute of Licensing to reconsider publishing this guidance.”

The Association of Convenience Stores has submitted new evidence to the Low Pay Commission, detailing the thousands of jobs that will be lost in the convenience sector as a result of the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016.

ACS has estimated that in 2016, the introduction of the living wage at £7.20 per hour for workers over 25 will cost the sector in excess of £167m.

When asked about the impact of the Living Wage, retailers said that they would take the following steps to keep their business afloat: