Press Releases

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have seen an increase in the number of shop theft incidents reported to the police in England and Wales over the last year.

Released today (19th October) the figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) show a 25% increase of incidents of shop theft to a total of 365,164 offences in the year ending June 2023.

The Department of Health & Social Care has published details of a new consultation on ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’, setting out a range of options to reduce vape product availability to young people and introduce new laws that would stop anyone born after the start of 2009 from ever being able to legally purchase tobacco. 

The 2023 Forecourt Report, published today by the Association of Convenience Stores, has highlighted the challenges and future opportunities for forecourt convenience retailers amid a changing fuel and vehicle market.

This year’s Forecourt Report shows the continued investment that forecourt retailers are making in improving the breadth and depth of services that they offer to customers, with services like free to use ATMs (39% of stores), click and collect services (31% of stores) and standalone parcel collection points (26% of stores) some of the most popular.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has signed up to a call to action alongside over 100 organisations, urging the next Government to take action to tackle loneliness.

ACS has welcomed a commitment from Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP to get tougher on the ‘epidemic’ of shoplifting gangs through the introduction of new laws for attacking a shopworker.

In her speech to the Labour Party Conference this morning, the Shadow Home Secretary highlighted the issues being faced by retailers and shopworkers across the UK with theft and abuse, and the challenges that they’re dealing with when it comes to getting meaningful intervention from the police.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to give convenience store retailers the incentives necessary to invest in the safety, security and long term future of their businesses. 

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the Prime Minister’s Conservative Party Conference speech, highlighting the convenience sector’s strong record on age restricted sales. 

In his speech to CPC in Manchester today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced future Government plans to change the law on the sale of tobacco so that the age of sale rises by one year, every year. Similar policies are already in place in New Zealand. The Prime Minister stated that the vote will be a free vote and not one that is subject to a government whip. 

A coalition of business groups and shopworkers union USDAW, representing tens of thousands of retailers and store colleagues, has written to police leaders in England and Wales setting out a three-point plan to turn the tide on shop theft. 

First Minister Humza Yousaf has announced the Scottish Programme for Government which outlines the legislative priorities for the next parliamentary year.

Announced today (5th September) the programme includes plans to address vaping in Scotland both in terms of use of vaping products by nonsmokers and young people and tackling the environmental impact of single-use vapes.

In a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, a coalition of businesses, charities and consumer groups, including ACS, have called for urgent action to protect cash as a critical payment method for both consumers and businesses.