Leading Politicians to Speak at ACS Heart of the Community Event
Senior representatives from all the main political parties will give keynote speeches at ACS’ inaugural ‘Heart of the Community’ conference at the Imperial War Museum on 12th November.
Iain Wright, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Philip Dunne, Conservative Enterprise Spokesperson, will each address an audience of over 100 delegates at the event.
There will also be a discussion panel made up of MPs; Bob Russell, Nigel Evans, David Kidney and John Grogan, who will lead a session on retailers getting their voices heard and concerns acted on by politicians. As well as presentations from leading retail academic Professor Ian Clarke, independent retailer, ACS Vice Chairman, Jonathan James and ACS Chief Executive, James Lowman.
The Heart of the Community event aims to bring together local shop retailers and parliamentarians to discuss the role retailers play in the community and the policy agenda. Many retailers take a central role in their communities. They are a sounding board for the views of local people and they take an active role in community activities and local charities. This event will advise retailers about how to communicate their concerns and views more effectively to political decision makers and it will also give retailers an opportunity to hear from the political parties about their policies on local shops.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “This event is about getting retailers and policy makers face to face. This is the first event of its kind and it has generated great excitement. On average there are 80 convenience stores in each constituency and they are a powerful voice within these communities. Through this event we want to empower retailers to get their voices heard by the decision makers and we want politicians to see the crucial role retailers can play in shaping a community’s political views.
“The seniority and relevance of the speakers and the response from our members shows that this event is much needed in the Westminster calendar.”
There are already over 100 delegates booked for this event. It is free to attend for Local Shop Campaigners and ACS members.
Contact Helen Davies at ACS on helen.davies@acs.org.uk or by telephone on 01252 515001 for more details or to book a place.