ACS has responded to the Welsh Government consultation on reforming the business rates appeals system, calling for greater transparency for the data used to arrive at valuations and warning against repeating the new ‘Check, Challenge, Appeal’ appeals system in England.
The Welsh Government’s consultation aims to reduce speculative appeals and includes proposals to introduce fees for ratepayers and amend time limits for the VOA and VTW at each stage of an appeal.
ACS is advising members to prepare for new rules that will stop them from charging customers to use credit or debit cards in store. Current EU rules prohibit businesses from charging customers more than the costs of offering card payments, but will now go further by banning surcharging completely, so retailers have to offer the same price regardless of the means of payment.
ACS has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of the Government’s long-term plan to protect the environment, including measures to reduce plastic packaging, with specific proposals to extend the 5p charge on single use plastic bags to all retailers in England.
In the announcements made today, the government state that they “want to extend the scheme so that small retailers also charge for bags. We’ll first be looking at voluntary agreements with the industry to achieve this, before we consider making this compulsory.”
ACS has welcomed reports of plans to extend the singe use carrier bag charge to all stores in England.
The carrier bag charging scheme was introduced in 2015 in England after the successful introduction of universal schemes in Wales and Scotland. In England however, only businesses with more than 250 employees are included in the legislation.
ACS research shows that over a third of retailers in England have already introduced a voluntary carrier bag charging scheme to help reduce the number of bags they give to customers.
On February 20th ACS will be hosting the Technology Showcase and HostedOne2Ones at The Library of Birmingham
The Technology Showcase provides an exclusive insight into the new and exciting innovations which retailers can use to improve their customers’ shopping experience and help to the day to day running of their store. Click here to book your free place.
ACS is promoting the Home Office’s announcement of voluntary commitments to restrict the sale of products that contain harmful levels of acid or corrosive substances to under-18s.
The commitments for retailers announced by the Home Office include:
PayPoint has announced a new partnership with the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) to make their Assured Advice programme available to all retailers via their PayPoint One platform. Retailers can access industry leading support on all aspects of regulatory compliance for onvenience retailing via their device or the PayPoint website. ACS is the voice of over 33,500 local shops and offers comprehensive advice as part of their Assured Advice guides and Training Scheme.
ACS is delighted to announce that symbol group Select & Save has joined ACS as retail members.
Select & Save was formed in 1997. Since its launch, the convenience store symbol group for independent retailers has grown from 2 stores to over 100 across the UK, and is still growing. Select & Save retailers are supported by its central office in Birmingham. The group recently announced a deal with Bestway Wholesale to receive ambient, BWS, fresh and chilled deliveries from the Bestway Wholesale nationwide depot network.
ACS is advising members to prepare for new rules that will stop them from charging customers to use credit or debit cards in store. Current EU rules prohibit businesses from charging customers more than the costs of offering card payments, but will now go further by banning surcharging completely, so retailers have to offer the same price regardless of the means of payment.
