The Scottish Grocers Federation and Association of Convenience Stores have responded to an announcement from the Scottish Government commissioning further work into the viability of a deposit return scheme in Scotland, outlining the problems that a scheme would cause for retailers and urging the Government to focus on effective measures to increase recycling rates.
Retailers have launched an appeal against a ruling on through-the-wall ATMs being separately charged for business rates.
The ruling, issued in April, states that cash machines built into the front of a shop or petrol forecourt should be subject to a separate rates bill. This is especially problematic for free to use cash machines, as they are likely to be used more heavily than charged machines and their rates bills are calculated on the basis of the turnover of the machine.
ACS has welcomed an announcement from the Competition and Markets Authority on the future of rollover contracts for microbusinesses.
From today, suppliers will not be able to lock microbusinesses into automatic rollover contracts. In addition, measures introduced today will ensure that suppliers display prices online to make it easier for businesses to compare different tariffs.
ACS has responded to a new report from consumer group Which? revealing the worst areas for broadband speeds for the UK, raising concerns about the impact on rural shops.
Camelot has issued a new survey calling for feedback from retailers on how they can be supported if they’re concerned about a customer spending more than they can afford on National Lottery products.
The National Lottery provider is working with the Responsible Gambling Council to improve guidelines for retailers on how to approach excessive lottery play.
The latest research from the Association of Convenience Stores has shown that retailers in the South West are leading the rest of the UK when it comes to their optimism on future sales, how their business is performing right now and their future plans for staff.
Key figures from the survey include:
The latest figures from the Association of Convenience Stores have shown an increase in investment over the last quarter, but concerns about the impact of rising employment costs.
Convenience stores across the UK invested £193m in their businesses between March and May, which is an increase on both the previous quarter (£154m) and the same quarter in 2016 (£181m).
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has reacted to the Queen’s Speech, calling on the Government to ensure that changes to the energy market include both domestic and non domestic consumers.
During the speech, the Queen stated that the Government ‘will ensure fairer markets for consumers, this will include bringing forward measures to help tackle unfair practices in the energy market to help reduce energy bills.’
Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which highlights small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses in their communities.
The day itself takes place on the first Saturday in December each year, but the campaign aims to have a lasting impact on small businesses. Some of the successes from last year’s campaign include:
The Royal Mint have launched a new survey looking for feedback from the convenience sector about the recent launch of the new £1 coin and arrangements for the co-circulation period, when both the old £1 coin and new £1 coin are in circulation, scheduled to finish on October 18th.
