Press Releases

New research published by ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has revealed that over 90% of convenience retailers do not have concerns about their tobacco display ban compliance.

ACS has welcomed assurances from Home Office Minister Lord Bates that clear guidance will be provided on the detail of how the Psychoactive Substances Bill will affect retailers.

The Bill, introduced in this year’s Queen’s Speech, aims to ban the sale of psychoactive substances (otherwise known as legal highs) but there is currently a wide ranging definition of what constitutes psychoactive substances.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has set out its recommendations to Government on business rate reform to make the system fairer and help small businesses.

In its submission, ACS highlights the inherent issues in the rates system that penalise retailers trying to expand and invest in their business.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has called on the chancellor to support the growth of convenience stores by taking action on employment, rates reform and duty fraud ahead of the summer 2015 Budget.

In its submission to government ahead of the first Budget after the 2015 General Election, ACS has called for government to ensure that the Low Pay Commission remains an independent body and is not influenced by central government targets.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to a report highlighting the extent of illegal tobacco consumption across Europe, calling for immediate action to tackle the illicit trade in the UK.

The report, released today by KPMG, claims that over 56 billion illegal cigarettes were consumed in 2014 across the EU, representing 10% of total consumption. Over the last year, more than 8 in 10 illegal cigarettes consumed originated from outside the EU.

ACS is this week sending constituency cards to all new MPs, detailing key information about the number of local shops in their area and the jobs that they create.

The 2015 General Election resulted in over 100 new MPs entering the Houses of Parliament, many of whom have been taking part in store visits with ACS members in the pre-election campaigning period.

ACS’ industry leading Assured Advice scheme is now available for retailers in both England and Wales, with a new version of the tobacco display ban guide for retailers in Wales being published today.

HMRC and The UK Border Force have released a new tobacco smuggling strategy this week; “Tackling illicit tobacco: From leaf to light”.  The new strategy highlights that revenue loss from illegal tobacco stands at £2.1 billion however the Government states its medium term ambition is to “hold the cigarettes illicit market share at or below 10%”.

The House of Lords have approved the draft Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015. This will mean that from the 1st October 2015, it will be illegal to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18 in England and Wales.

The regulations will:

ACS has responded to the Royal Society for Public Health’s report on the high street, calling for positive measures to support innovation on the high street instead of regulatory interventions.

The report, “Health on the High Street” released today, focuses much of its attention on restricting the activity of fast food outlets, betting shops and payday lenders, but also calls for the following interventions which would have an impact on convenience stores: