The government has announced today (25th June) plans to introduce a new law requiring food businesses to include full ingredients labelling on foods prepacked for direct sale.

Defra defines prepacked food for direct sale as applying to, “foods that have been packed on the same premises from which they are being sold. These might include a packaged salad or baguette from a shop that was made by staff earlier in the day, packaged in the kitchen and then placed on a shelf for customers to purchase.”

ACS has given evidence to the Non-Domestic Rating Bill Committee, welcoming the move to more frequent revaluations on business rates.

The evidence session comes after the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed changes to the frequency of business rates valuations earlier this month. The next revaluation, previously scheduled for 2022, will be brought forward to 2021, with revaluations taking place every three years thereafter instead of the current five year period.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is urging retailers to fill in an online template to help them respond to the Home Office’s call for evidence on violence and abuse against shop staff. The call for evidence is closing on Friday 28^th June and retailers can contact ACS if they need help with their response.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is encouraging retailers to get involved with this year’s Great Get Together, taking place this weekend (21st-23rd June).

The Great Get Together celebrates people and businesses taking part in community activities together. This could include a range of activities from hosting coffee mornings, being part of a village fete to putting on a barbecue or any other local community activity.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the publication of HM Revenue and Customs’ report on the prevalence of non-duty paid alcohol and illicit tobacco in the UK. ACS is reiterating calls for targeted action at a local level to reduce the impact of the illicit trade on responsible retailers.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has given the Ofgem a flavour of the challenges faced by local shops, by taking the energy market regulator to see a number of convenience retailers to discuss how they interact with the energy market and to find ways they can help improve their experiences.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is encouraging all convenience store retailers that sell tobacco to make sure that they have the codes they need to comply with the track and trace regulations.

The regulations came into force on 20^th May 2019 and require retailers to have an Economic Operator Identifier Code (registered to their business) and a Facility Identifier Code (for each of their stores) in order to purchase compliant cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco products.

New figures from the Association of Convenience Stores have revealed that fewer than one in ten retailers are planning to invest in their business in the future, a record low.

When asked about their business plans in the quarterly Voice of Local Shops Survey, only 9% of independent retailers said they planned to invest in their stores over the coming year. This is the lowest level seen since the survey began in 2012 and a decline from 16% last May.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is supporting National Licensing Week (17^th-21^st June) and is encouraging retailers to get involved by using this week to showcase the work that they do in their communities.

National Licensing Week was established in 2016 by the Institute of Licensing to raise awareness about the role of licensing in our everyday lives. The underlying message of this week is that ‘licensing is everywhere’ and day one of National Licensing Week focuses on ‘Positive Partnerships’.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has submitted evidence to the Low Pay Commission as part of their consultation on future minimum wage rates, calling for the process to remain independent, evidence-based and free of political pressure.

Minimum wages are expected to reach the Low Pay Commission’s target of 60% of median earnings by 2020, a rate which is currently predicted to be £8.67 for the National Living Wage.  The Commission is currently consulting on its future remit post-2020.