The Plunkett Foundation, a national charity focusing on rural communities, is celebrating 100 years of supporting community business.
The charity was established in 1919 by Sir Horace Plunkett, with the purpose of promoting a model of community ownership as a solution to rural problems.
To mark the centenary, Plunkett will be holding a series of events throughout 2019 and launching enhanced services and new collaborations across the sector.
New research published today (15th January) by ACS reveals the growing importance of local shops to people in Wales.
The 2019 Welsh Local Shop Report shows how convenience stores are supporting communities by providing thousands of jobs, stepping in to ensure that essential services like access to cash are still available, and investing millions to ensure that they stay relevant in the face of competition from larger stores and online businesses.
Key figures from the report include:
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to a consultation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on changing the planning system to allow for greater changes of use to support the high street to adapt and diversify.
ACS' submission supports a new use class (a category of property types for the planning system) which merges the A1 (shops), A2 (financial services) and A3 (food and drink) use classes to increase flexibility for retailers when developing services alongside their grocery offer.
Camelot UK Lotteries Limited (‘Camelot’) today announced details of ‘Set For Life’ – a new draw-based game from The National Lottery that will offer a top prize of £10,000 a month for 30 years.
Tickets for the new game will cost £1.50 per line and will go on sale on Friday 15 March.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on reducing harms from high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products, raising concerns about proposals to restrict the location of confectionery, biscuits, crisps and other products can be sold
The consultation proposes a range of measures to restrict the ways that HFSS products can be sold, including restrictions on:
Small retail businesses are welcoming the Government’s plans to extend the single use plastic carrier bag to small retailers in England. The Government’s consultation published today (Thursday 27th December) sets out plans to extend the charge to small retailers by 2020 and seeks views on increasing the charge from 5p to 10p.
ACS chief executive, James Lowman, said: “We welcome the Government’s plans to extend carrier bag charging to all shops.”
ACS has called for the minimum unit price for alcohol in Wales to be set at 50p in line with existing legislation in Scotland, and has raised concerns about potential financial incentives for local authorities looking to enforce the new rules as they are being adopted.
In its submission to the Welsh Government’s consultation on what level the minimum unit price of alcohol should be set at in Wales, ACS supports the proposed level of 50p as the consistency with Scottish rules will reduce burdens for retailers who operate across the UK.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the recommendations of the High Street Report, published this morning (Thursday) by the Expert Panel on High Streets.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the latest findings of the independent Access to Cash review, which has published an interim report suggesting that Britain is not yet ready to go cashless.
The Access to Cash Review, chaired by Natalie Ceeney CBE, highlights the overall decline in the use of cash in the UK, as well as a fall in ATM use and an increase in the number of businesses that are becoming cashless.
