News

ACS has welcomed a new crackdown on the illicit trade in tobacco and alcohol announced by HM Revenue and Customs.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “We believe that any retailer who sells non-duty paid alcohol or tobacco should be subject to the full force of the law. This new wave of activity from HMRC is a welcome sign, and their commitment to working with licensing authorities gives hope that more retailers selling illicit alcohol and tobacco will lose their licence.”

High Streets Minister Penny Mordaunt has urged town and cities across Britain to get their applications in for the Great British High Street competition before it closes on 30 August 2014.

The minister has written to all town teams and the local community to encourage them to take part in the competition, run by the Future High Street Forum, to find Britain's best high streets. Many town teams have already entered the 7 separate categories: city centres, town centres, market towns, coastal communities, villages, parades and London.

ACS Chief Executive, James Lowman, featured today on BBC Radio 2, the Jeremy Vine Show, talking about shop theft and a scheme in Durham proposing to let first time shop thieves off without any formal sanction.

Lowman said: “We support innovative approaches to tackling shop theft but we worry about the message that this sends. Shop theft is not a victimless crime, it has very serious implications for retailers, their staff and business.”

ACS has welcomed an announcement from energy company Opus on plans to stop the use of rollover contracts.

In an announcement posted on the company’s website, Opus state that will cease offering the automatic rollover contracts to all new customers as of October 2014. All existing customer contracts will stop auto-renewal by Spring 2015.

A national competition is currently underway to find and celebrate the best high streets in the country. 

The competition is being run by the Future High Street Forum and the Association of Town and City Management.

ACS is calling on retailers to respond to the National Minimum Wage survey 2015 to inform the convenience sector’s response to Low Pay Commission’s call for evidence on minimum wage rates in 2015. 

The LPC is an independent body that advises the government on future the National Minimum Wage consulting with the business community and unions.

‘Managing Health And Safety’ and ‘Selling Fireworks’ are the two latest Assured Advice Guides published by ACS under its innovative primary authority compliance scheme. The scheme, which is free to all ACS members, provides retailers with excellent tailored advice developed by retail and local authority experts.

Once members sign up to the scheme and use the guidance, they can be sure that their policies and procedures will not be challenged or changed by any other local authority.

ACS has welcomed new evidence from Citizens Advice on small business energy contracts, and has renewed its call on Ofgem to ensure that all energy companies adhere to the same standards. 

The survey from Citizens Advice reports that 46% of small businesses are concerned about their electricity bills, compared with 16% who were worried about access to finance. 

ACS research conducted last year revealed that 88% of retailers believe that further regulation of suppliers is necessary for a fairer marketplace. 

The seventh annual ACS Heart of the Community conference will be taking place on Tuesday 21st October from 12.00pm – 3.30pm.

The conference, held in Westminster, brings retailers from across the country together with MPs and Ministers to discuss important issues facing local shops. 

The event will be chaired by journalist, Daisy McAndrew.

ACS has called on its members to support the Home Office’s Commercial Victimisation Survey, which provides crucial information to Government on how businesses in England and Wales are affected by crime.