News

ACS is pleased to announce that the parcel collection service, Parcelly, has joined as an Associate supplier.

Parcelly offers a flexible solution to solve last mile delivery problems by converting any local business into a parcel collection point. Being completely smartphone based, the service is extremely easy to set up and operate for Parcelly locations, allowing online shoppers to collect their purchases where and when they want.

Figures released by Government as part of a consultation on changes to Sunday Trading regulations have been dismissed as out of date and misleading.

In the consultation, Government uses the following statistics to justify its decision:

The Department for Business and the Department for Communities and Local Government have published a full consultation on plans to allow local authorities and metro mayors to increase the hours that larger shops can open on Sundays.

The Joint Alcohol Anti-Fraud Taskforce has published their 2015 annual report, outlining the progress being made by the task force in tackling the illicit alcohol trade.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “The work of the task force is essential in the fight against the illicit alcohol trade, which costs around £1.3bn a year in lost revenue every year. Retailers who sell illicit alcohol are damaging legitimate businesses. Our position on these retailers is clear – they should lose their alcohol licence.”

Retail industry bodies the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) and the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) have called on local shop owners to write to their MPs explaining the negative impact that proposed changes to Sunday Trading regulations could have on their business.

The Association of Convenience Stores has urged the Low Pay Commission to fully consider the impact of the national living wage on local shops and other businesses after a consultation was published today seeking views on the issue.

The Commission’s consultation asks for views on the future rate of the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage, although the National Living Wage rate of £7.20 per hour for 2016 has already been dictated by the Chancellor in the 2015 Budget.

I’ve been pleased to see this week more companies and sector organisations – in farming and the care industry – raising concerns about the chancellor’s decision to introduce a national living wage at £7.20 in April 2016, rising to at least £9 by 2020.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has today launched new guidance for retailers on how to meet the needs of disabled customers in store.

The guide has been developed in partnership with the Business Disability Forum, and covers a range of issues including wheelchair access, how to assist blind or visually impaired customers and how to assist those with dementia.

ACS has urged the government to include small businesses in the upcoming carrier bag charge in England after new figures from WRAP showed that single-use carrier bag usage in England rose by 200m in the last year. From October this year, all businesses that employ 250 or more staff will have to charge customers a minimum of 5p for each single-use carrier bag.

ACS has previously called for small businesses to be included within the charge to prevent consumer and retailer confusion over which shops do and don’t charge for carrier bags.

New data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has show that smoking and drinking rates have fallen and young people are less likely to access these products from shops.

The ‘Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England – 2014’ report shows that 58% of regular smokers between the ages of 11 and 15 attempted and were refused when trying to buy cigarettes in a shop in 2014, a decrease from 85% in 1998. In addition, the report also shows that just 11% of current underage drinkers bought alcohol from a shop or supermarket in 2014.