Press Releases

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the Chancellor’s Budget, welcoming changes to alcohol duty rates.

Alcohol Duty: Government has announced the scrapping of the alcohol duty escalator; a freeze on duty for ordinary cider and spirits; and a cut of 1p per pint in beer duty.

Local shops have expressed their disappointment as the Government confirms the 3% increase in the adult National Minimum Wage to £6.50 recommended by the Low Pay Commission. ACS’ (the Association of Convenience Stores) evidence has shown that an above inflation increase of 3% is likely to have a negative impact on staffing and investment levels in the convenience sector.

In a speech this morning, Business Secretary Vince Cable confirmed that the Government had accepted all of the Low Pay Commission's recommendations.

Independent retailers are positive about their prospects on 2014, with the latest ACS Optimism Index showing it's third consecutive quarter of improvement. However, the Index is part of a mixed set of results from the ACS Voice of Local Shops survey, conducted with over a thousand retailers in February 2014.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “The third successive rise in the Optimism Index is an encouraging sign for the sector, and is backed up by improving wider economic indicators and the perception that convenience retailing is a growth market.

ACS has responded to a statement from Planning Minister Nick Boles by warning that current planning policy guidance is insufficient to stop the trend of out of town developments being approved.

ACS has called for government, police, local authorities and the trade to work together to establish a clear framework to assess proposed local schemes targeted at preventing street drinking.

ACS has called for more action to enforce a town centre first planning policy, after the influential BIS Select Committee failed to draw attention to this crucial issue in its report on the retail industry, published today.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “We are disappointed the committee missed this opportunity to hold Government to account over the weaknesses in the planning system that are undermining retailer confidence to invest in town centres.

ACS has welcomed new guidelines to help protect retail employees from violence in the workplace.

Government has published the results of the latest Commercial Victimisation Survey, showing that the retail and wholesale sector experiences more crime than all other sectors.

The survey revealed that shop theft is the most common crime experienced by wholesalers and retailers, with 3.3 million incidents of customer theft reported in the survey.

ACS has launched a new report setting out the impact of crime on the convenience sector and as well as revealing new research, the Crime Report 2014 includes guidance to help retailers manage the cost of crime against their stores.

The Crime Report 2014, launched today at the ACS Crime Seminar in London, features a detailed account of the costs, both human and monetary, of crime including shop theft, burglary, robbery and violence

Key findings from the report are:

Local shops have responded to news that the Low Pay Commission have recommended a 3% increase in the National Minimum Wage, expressing concerns over the potential increase and its impact on jobs and business investment.