This week we launched a major new campaign to create 25,000 new Dementia Friends in our sector. You’ll see lots of information about the campaign on our website and on social media, and if you have any questions call me or anyone from the ACS team and we’ll make sure you have everything you need to become a Dementia Friend and to help your colleagues to do the same.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has launched a campaign in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society to help convenience retailers and colleagues better understand and support customers living with dementia.
Launched today (15th January), the campaign coincides with ACS’ 25th anniversary and aims to create 25,000 Dementia Friends in the convenience sector to help customers, colleagues and communities affected by dementia.
ACS has joined forces with Scotland’s leading business representative groups and sectoral trade associations in a joint letter to MSPs, urging them to vote to retain the Uniform Business Rate.
The 26 organisations represent a wide cross section of Scottish industry including manufacturing, retail, property, tourism, hospitality and leisure.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has reiterated calls to the Government to take urgent action to tackle violence toward and abuse shopworkers, highlighting the human impact that these incidents have.
In a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (14th January) the Prime Minister called for Whitehall Departments to focus on tackling crime, stating that “every department should consider itself a criminal justice department” as part of the focus to tackle the “complex causes of crime”.
Summit20 is an unmissable event for anyone involved with the convenience sector, bringing together retailers, suppliers, and industry experts from around the world to explore the successes and challenges of the industry and discuss new ideas retailers can walk away with.
This year's event, taking place on March 31st at the Vox in Birmingham, will focus on two of the biggest questions facing the convenience sector in the future, looking at whether convenience stores are primarily food retailers, and how the role of colleagues is changing in store.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is calling on retailers to share their experiences of retail crime over the last 12 months in their 2020 Crime Survey.
The survey examines the impact that crime has on the convenience sector looking at how crime is affecting retailers, number of incidents experienced and how much crime has cost businesses over the last year. The survey also considers the causes of these crimes and the measures retailers have in place to prevent crime in their stores.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed an announcement from the Welsh Government which has confirmed an extension to the High Streets and Retail Rate Relief scheme for 2020-21.
As part of the scheme, retail properties with a rateable value up to £9,100 will have a rates bill of zero and properties with a rateable value of up to £50,000 can receive up to £2,500 off of their business rates bill.
More speakers have been announced for ACS’ Technology Showcase taking place on 5th February in Birmingham.
ACS' Technology Showcase will bring together retailers and suppliers to hear first-hand about the latest innovations in technology which retailers can use to improve their customers’ shopping experience or help them with the day to day running of their store.
I’m writing this on New Years Eve against the backdrop of two important stories for our sector. Firstly, we planned to use today to publicise our concerns about recent reductions in the LINK interchange fee that funds free to use ATMs, and to argue for future increases to be scrapped. LINK really needs to reverse the 10% reductions they’ve already made, which have led to lots of our members seeing their free to use cash machine apply charges, or be lost altogether.
ACS has warned ministers that significant hikes in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates announced today will put further pressure on struggling high street businesses.
The Government have today announced what it calls ‘the biggest cash increase ever’ in the National Living Wage rate. At £8.72 per hour, the National Living Wage will rise by 51p in April from its current rate of £8.21.
From April 2020, the new rates will be as follows:
