News

ACS has welcomed the Welsh Government’s announcement that it will seek to work towards a UK-wide deposit return system in Wales.  ACS is calling for detailed consideration of the role that retailers can play in such a scheme, including the challenges and burdens that may arise from it.

ACS has submitted a joint response with SGF to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee Inquiry on the ATM network, raising concerns about the impact that the removal of ATMs could have on local consumers, especially those in rural areas.

The Inquiry was launched as a result of a decision by LINK to reduce ATM interchange fees paid by banks to ATM operators and retailers by 20% over a four year period starting from July. The Inquiry is considering the impact of this decision on Scottish businesses, consumers and high streets.

The Home Office have published the latest figures from its 2017 Commercial Victimisation Survey, reporting that the number of assaults and threats committed against the wholesale and retail sector has risen significantly over the last year, from 524 incidents per 1,000 premises to 1,433 incidents per 1,000 premises.

The CVS also reports that wholesale and retail premises experienced around 8.1 million crimes over the last year, rising from 5.2m in 2016. Almost two thirds of these incidents (61%) are attributed to theft by customers.

Today a new fund is being launched to tackle the critical issue of veg consumption which is contributing to 20,000 premature deaths every year in the UK. 

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has raised concerns about the impact of the non-duty paid alcohol and illicit tobacco trade on the convenience sector during an evidence session in Parliament, recommending more powers for trading standards officers to remove retailers selling non-duty paid alcohol and illicit tobacco from the market.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has launched the ACS National Living Wage Survey 2018 as part of its evidence gathering process for a submission to the Low Pay Commission.

The Low Pay Commission is consulting on what the rates for the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates should be from April 2019. The consultation will also consider the impact of a potential premium on top of existing wage rates to apply for working hours not guaranteed by an employment contract, following a recommendation from the Taylor Review into Modern Employment Practices.

From today (1st May 2018), all licensed premises in Scotland, including convenience stores, must comply with the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012. This means that retailers must not sell alcohol below 50p per unit. 

Retailers must identify which alcohol products they sell that are affected by the regulations and amend the price of the affected products. Not all alcohol products are affected by the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing. To ensure that you’re fully compliant, you should calculate the Minimum Unit Price of alcohol products you sell. 

Sainsbury’s and Asda have agreed terms for a proposed merger, which is likely to be investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The combined group of the UK’s second and third largest supermarkets would total 2,800 stores and would represent 31.4% of the UK grocery market.

Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s chief executive said: "This is a transformational opportunity to create a new force in UK retail, which will be more competitive and give customers more of what they want now and in the future.

ACS’ Responsible Retailing Forum on 16th May aims to provide convenience retailers with latest policy developments as well as the tools and knowledge to ensure that their stores are trading legally and responsibly.

This year’s Forum will focus on environmental issues, tobacco track and trace, changing age restrictions and the latest alcohol policy update.

Speakers already confirmed include:

The Office for National Statistics has published its latest crime statistics for England and Wales showing that shop theft continues to increase year-on-year.

The statistical bulletin covers the year ending December 2017 which found that there has been a 8% increase in the number of shop thefts from the previous year, increasing to 385,265 incidents.