ACS Blog

You may have seen David Cameron popping up in an ASDA this week hailing their announcement of creating 12,000 new jobs. This set piece was slightly overshadowed by the revelation that the Prime Minister shops in Waitrose – surely the least surprising news of the week.

On Wednesday morning, energy regulator Ofgem hastily announced that they are consulting on plans to refer the energy market to the Competition Markets Authority. The investigation, which is slated to take at least 18 months, will look at increasing competition in the marketplace by removing the barriers to entry of smaller suppliers and encouraging more switching from consumers, thus driving down prices.

It’s unusual – and probably against the terms of my contract – to be writing in the week of ACS Summit about another event. However I really want to share some insights I picked up at the Everybody Shops conference, conceived and hosted by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, last week. I was fortunate to be asked to chair this event, which was all about how retailers, suppliers, town planners and managers, and charities can work together to improve the offer for older customers.

We have had a run of major announcements affecting retail from George Osbourne in his Budgets and Autumn Financial Statements, so by his standards yesterday was a low key affair. The compelling statistics were there: the economy is back in growth (2.4%) and the amount of people unemployed has fallen again by 63,000 .

ACS is a relatively new organisation, formed in 1995. However our roots are much deeper, going all the way back to 1891. I personally like to look forward rather than back, but sometimes something happens that makes me reflect on the past, and the people whose work put in place some of the building blocks for what ACS has become today.

I was going to write a blog on super strength alcohol and local schemes, but our Public Affairs Director Shane Brennan has just been to a conference to speak about the issue, so I thought I’d ask him to write it instead. Here it is:

As much as any other issue we deal with, the National Minimum Wage prompts passionate and radically opposing viewpoints. Some, including some senior politicians, will privately say that the minimum wage is a distortion of the labour market and damages jobs, growth and competitiveness. Others believe that wage inequality must be addressed far more aggressively through big increases in the minimum wage.

Just under a year ago I was asked to join the Future High Streets Forum, and soon after I became chair of the policy group of the Forum. This has given me an insight into some of the initiatives being taken to support high streets around the country, and I wanted to share something I’ve learned over that time.

I’m always pleased when ACS gets a mention in a new report, as it usually means some of our research is getting quoted or the author is thinking about local shops which is a good thing. Last week’s British Medical Journal report “Under the Influence” names ACS as an organization engaged in trying to change Government’s minimum unit pricing policy. There are a number of extraordinary issues that emerge from this report.

A well placed article in the Times this morning has added further concern to employers’ worries about an increase in wage rates.  The article suggests that the Chancellor and the Prime Minster are convinced that a 50p increase in the minimum wage will put them a step ahead of Labour in the Living Standards debate that will feature prominently in the next election – the concept of the piece is that this would be a great bit of political strategizing.