Press Releases

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.

Crimestoppers and the Association of Convenience Stores offer reward of up to £20k for information on attempted murder of shopkeeper in Plaistow.

Crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers and its partner, the Association of Convenience Stores are offering a reward of up to £20,000 for crucial information leading to an arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for the attempted murder and attempted robbery of a shop owner and his employee in Plaistow, London.

ACS has responded to the publication of two consultations from Ofgem, calling for more to be done to tackle problems faced by retailers when dealing with energy companies.

ACS has responded to the Home Office’s announcement of a consultation on locally set license fees, calling for clarity on the level of the cap for cost recovery. 

The consultation proposes that licensing authorities will be able to recover costs incurred through the licensing function.