ACS Blog

It's frustrating that policy-makers still seem to think that banning something will mean it ceases to exist. The Scottish Government has published the statutory instrument it will use to ban disposable vapes and by the time you read this Westminster may well have followed suit, with both jurisdictions deliberately using the parliamentary mechanism that will attract the least debate and attention. 

Our Forecourt, Power and Convenience Conference was a real success, and I wanted to share some of the things I learned:

Earlier this week I attended the launch of Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber’s Retail Crime Strategy, and it was good to see some of our members there as well as senior police officers, other businesses and the media.

Over the past couple of months we’ve seen a discernible shift in the tone of debate about shop theft and retail crime. Our own crime report, and the Co-op’s research on crime in their business, has provided a powerful evidence base. We’re seeing better engagement from Police & Crime Commissioners and local forces, and crucially we’re now hearing Ministers talking about the seriousness of shop theft and the need for penalties to be consistent with this. There’s also been a lot more interest in the media.

The Local Government Association has called for a ban on disposable vapes by 2024. I wanted to reflect on why this group positing this sort of “solution” is a clickbait contribution to the debate on vaping. 

The dust has settled a little on the postponement of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme until October 2025, and the collapse of Circularity Scotland. Our Government Relations Director Ed Woodall has been at the heart of discussions on DRS in Scotland and across the UK, so I’m passing this blog to him to reflect on what we’ve learned and where we go next…

In all my time in this industry, I can’t remember a category that’s sprung onto the market with the scale and impact of so-called “disposable” vapes. I’ll talk below about why I think this is the wrong term to use, but regardless of that, this has become a huge part of many convenience store businesses. This brings with it some challenging regulatory issues that we’re now facing into. Whether through the government’s tobacco strategy or through separate legislation, we’re highly likely to see more regulation of these products within the next few years.

Today the energy regulator Ofgem published its latest announcement on the price cap that will come into force for domestic consumers in April. The new price cap works out at around £3,280 for a typical household. Of course, with the Government’s energy price guarantee still in place, albeit at a higher level of around £3,000 for a typical household, consumers will be protected from some of the increases that they would otherwise be looking at.

I keep hearing about the link between the cost of living crisis and shop theft and I wrote about this before back in May. We’ve been approached by the media to comment on this apparent link, and it’s something we’re discussing with members as we hear their feedback on trading conditions. I haven’t changed my view, but we’ve got some more information on this that I wanted to share and discuss.

I follow discussions about diversity and inclusion with great interest. This is firstly because I think it’s pretty fundamental that everyone is treated fairly and with respect in any context, yet it’s also depressingly evident that this isn’t always the case and that many people have to contend with barriers and challenges that able-bodied white heterosexual men like me don’t have to think about and are probably still largely unaware of. Anyone in a leadership position should think about these issues and should expect to be challenged to act to promote diversity and inclusion.