ACS gave oral evidence to the Environment and Sustainability Committee about proposed reforming of carrier bag charging and new waste recycling legislation as laid out in the Environment (Wales) Bill yesterday.
The Bill seeks to give Welsh Ministers further powers to place a minimum price on the sale of ‘bags for life’ and to make it a mandatory requirement for all businesses to separate different types of waste into different categories before it is collected.
The All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group held the first oral evidence session of its Everyday Entrepreneurs inquiry today, looking at the skills that the next generation of entrepreneurs need to succeed.
Apple Pay, the contactless smart phone payment service, has today launched in the UK allowing consumers to pay for items using their iPhones.
If you haven’t noticed, this has been a hell of a week. The chancellor has announced some radical changes in policy, and two of these – devolving Sunday trading decisions and introducing a national living wage – have huge implications for our sector. Both of these were unexpected and not included in the Conservatives’ manifesto.
The Association of Convenience Stores has criticised the Government’s decision to introduce a mandatory living wage for workers over 25 as a reckless measure that will have a significant negative impact on the sector.
The Association of Convenience Stores has heavily criticised plans introduced in the Budget to allow local authorities to decide whether to remove Sunday Trading rules.
During today’s Budget, the Chancellor confirmed that the Government will seek to devolve powers to change Sunday Trading rules to local authorities as part of the Enterprise Bill.
Local shops have condemned Government plans to give major towns and cities the power to remove Sunday Trading regulations, warning that the move will be complicated, ineffective at increasing trade on the high street and would threaten the livelihoods of convenience store owners.
There is less than two weeks left to enter your local area into this year’s Great British High Street Competition.
After the success of last year’s competition, the Great British High Street Competition is back and aims to find the best high streets across England, Scotland and Wales with the winners getting a share of a £50,000 cash prize.
The Great British High Street brand was set up by the Future High Streets Forum in 2014 to help encourage footfall to town centres by increasing positive sentiment towards local high streets.
The All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group has confirmed its’ officers for the current Parliament. Simon Danczuk MP will continue as Chair of the group and Luke Hall, a new intake Conservative MP for Thonbury and Yate, taking the position of Vice Chair.
This week we took a trip over the Severn Bridge to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff for a meeting of the Cross Party Group on Small Shops. As with All Party Groups in Westminster, these groups can provide a useful focal point for discussing issues relating to particularly industries or issues, and before I forget, here is more information on the inquiry being led by the Small Shops Group in Westminster into Britain’s Everyday Entrepreneurs, which we helped launch in June.
