News

So what do you think’s going to happen, then? No deal, no Brexit, Theresa May’s deal, or some other option as yet undefined? It’s a big part of ACS’ job to be the fulcrum between what happens in politics and what happens in your business, and I think we’re pretty good at providing new and informed analysis to you, and giving credible and evidence-based input to government when it comes to issues related to our sector. On Brexit, frankly, this is a lot harder. It’s the biggest, and certainly the most fever-pitched debate and development in British politics in a generation, and one which cert

The winners of the 2018 Great British High Street Awards (GBHS) have been announced. The awards, run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and sponsored by Visa, recognise and celebrate the local achievements of the nation’s high streets.

The independent judging panel selected the shortlisted finalists for the Champion and Rising Star awards. These 38 shortlisted finalists were visited by GBHS judges to assess who would be crowned the winners of the 2018 Awards and the public given the chance to vote for their favourite high street.

ACS has welcomed the Environmental Audit Committee’s report into hand car washes, which recommends the government takes further action to tackle illegal hand car wash operators.

The report recommended: “To make enforcement easier, the Government should trial a licensing scheme for hand car washes that brings together all of the major compliance requirements, including on environmental pollution, into a single, more easily enforceable, legal requirement.”

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is calling on the government to introduce new protections for shop workers.

ACS is supporting David Hanson MP’s amendment to the Offensive Weapons Bill that would introduce additional protections for shopworkers who are abused or suffer violent attacks when refusing sales of corrosive substances. The new measures should reflect the protections  assaults against NHS workers ‘aggravated’ and therefore receive more scrutiny and punishment from the justice system.

ACS is calling on retailers to share their experiences of retail crime over the last 12 months as part of the annual ACS Crime Survey 2019.

The survey looks at the impact that crime is having on retailers’ businesses, including the number of incidents they have experienced and how much crime has cost their business in the last 12 months. The survey also considers the causes of these crimes and the measures retailers have in place to prevent crime in their stores.

The Main Street Trading Company has won the Best Small Shop Award 2018 at the Best Small Shops competition (BSSC) parliamentary reception today. 

The Main Street Trading Company bookshop and café opened in June 2008. The shop’s mission has always been to champion reading and offer customers a wonderful shopping experience. In 2012, the independent retailer developed a barn behind the main shop to create the Deli & Home shop.

The BSSC celebrates the creativity of UK independent retailers and the key role that they play on the high street and in their local communities.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed a ruling from the Court of Appeal which has confirmed that through the wall ATMs should not be subject to a separate business rates assessment.

The case was brought forward by retailers Tesco, Sainsbury’s, the Co-operative Group and cash machine operator Cardtronics Europe. They appealed after a ruling last year upheld a decision in 2013 that ATMs built into the front of a shop or petrol station should have a separate business rates bill.

The Treasury Select Committee has launched a new inquiry into consumer access to financial services, seeking evidence on the impact of reducing the number of free to use ATMs and provision of Post Office services in areas where bank branches have closed.

The ACS HostedOne2Ones event, taking place on December 12^th at One Park Crescent in London, is a business speed dating experience giving retailers the opportunity to have short meetings with our Premier Club and Club suppliers and start negotiating the best deals.

This event allows our Premier Club and Club suppliers to meet with retailers and gain an increased understanding of the convenience sector and is an opportunity for retailers to build new and exciting relationships with some of the biggest suppliers within the sector.