ACS appeared on BBC Newsnight last night to discuss changing consumer habits and trends toward more convenience shopping.
In response to a report published on Monday by Goldman Sachs, which was critical of the number of supermarkets in operation, ACS Chief Executive James Lowman was joined by journalist and broadcaster Harry Wallop in a discussion with presenter Evan Davis about the growth of the convenience sector and online retailing.
The convenience sector is now worth over £37bn to the UK economy, creating over 386,000 jobs. Modern convenience stores provide a range of services, including bill payment, click and collect, home delivery and a diverse food to go offering.
During the interview, the question was raised about whether convenience store growth is benefitting high streets. Mr Lowman stated that convenience stores are located throughout centres, as well as secondary and tertiary locations like estates and villages, but raised concerns about the continuing trend toward out of town development.
Mr Lowman said: “There are some worrying ways that the regulators are behind the market. Despite consumers moving back into town, the regulators and local authorities are behind the curve in allowing large numbers of supermarkets to be built out of town. The negative outcome of this is that we end up with lots of out of town supermarkets that end up just being derelict, putting off investment everywhere.”
The full interview is available on the BBC iPlayer here (begins at 21:40): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04pvj4v/newsnight-17112014
