The weeks leading up to Halloween and Bonfire Night (5th November) often provide great opportunities for convenience store retailers to maximise their sales through seasonal products. However, there are a few things that retailers should take into consideration during the autumn months. ACS has produced Assured Advice Guides to support retailers with ‘Preventing Underage Sales’ and ‘Selling Fireworks’.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the publication of the Office for National Statistics annual Crime Survey for England and Wales, highlighting the significant issues retailers and their staff face when dealing with shop theft.
According to the ONS survey, the number of police recorded shop theft incidents for the year ending June 2018 has reached 382,706, a 1% increase on the previous year. The survey also reports a significant increase in the number of violent offences recorded, increasing by 19% over the last year to 1.4million.
Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst MP has commended the work of retailers and their staff in the convenience sector, highlighting the positive impact that they have on their local communities and affirming the government’s commitment to support local shops.
The Minister appeared at the Association of Convenience Stores’ Heart of the Community reception to celebrate the progress that has been made on providing healthier choices for customers, tackling loneliness in isolated communities and developing the skills of young people through apprenticeships.
ACS chief executive James Lowman has called on the government to recognise the importance of domestic issues like crime, employment costs and the convenience sector’s role in helping protect the environment.
Representatives from the retail sector have told the Cross Party Group on Small Shops in Wales of the serious human and financial cost of crimes committed against retailers and the people working in stores.
The meeting of the CPG on Small Shops heard from representatives from the Association of Convenience Stores, the Welsh Retail Consortium, the Shopworkers Union USDAW and Gwent Police on the impact of shop theft, violence and abuse on the retail sector, as well as ways that the police and justice system can do more to tackle and prevent retail crime.
ACS has welcomed a bill tabled in parliament to protect retail workers who sell age restricted products.
Labour MP Alex Norris, proposing the Assaults on Retail Workers (Offences) Bill on Tuesday evening, told ministers that retail staff who police the sale of restricted items such as alcohol and knives need extra legal protections, and that those choosing to attack retail workers should face "greater punishment”.
ACS has given evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s inquiry on high streets, explaining the need for retail businesses to invest and change, and calling for reform of business rates to incentivise this investment.
ACS has welcomed the launch of an initiative aimed at improving on-the-go recycling options in the centre of Leeds, where recycling reward machines, 'bubble-blowing' bins, and recycling collection bikes are to be rolled out from today.
The 'Leeds by Example' campaign is aimed at providing consumers with a means of recycling plastic bottles, drinks cans, coffee cups, and other packaging from goods consumed while out on the streets or in public places. At present, only 42 per cent of local authorities provide on-the-go recycling facilities in the UK.
Book your free place at ACS’ unmissable political event, the Heart of the Community Conference 2018, which will offer retailers key insights into how the latest political agenda could impact their businesses.
The conference has moved to a new venue at the heart of Westminster, 1 Birdcage Walk, taking place on 16th October from 12-4pm. The conference will bring together retailers from across the country to address the policy issues that really matter for the sector, focusing on tackling retail crime, acting on the environment and the future of work in the sector.
The 2018 Forecourt Report has revealed the essential role that the UK's 8,418 forecourts play in the lives of consumers, the improvements that forecourts are making in their businesses, and the challenges they face in the future.
The report details the investment that forecourt stores are making in improving their offering to customers through new technologies, more efficient refrigeration and a wider food offer, with over £11,000 invested per store on average.
Other key findings from the report include:
