News

On the 19th January, David Cameron called for Britain to become a nation of ‘full employment’ in a speech setting out Conservative jobs pledges.

Mr Cameron said full employment would mean that ‘anyone who wants a job is able to get a job in our country’.  Cameron set no timeframe for the pledge to be fulfilled.

The Labour Party have this morning published a series of policy announcements on the issue of public health which would be implemented if they are to form the next Government.

The Paper covers a number of areas including physical activity, food, tobacco and community resilience. Some of the key announcements include:

Award winning Leamington Spa retailer Sunder Sandher has moved a step closer to introducing a stricter speed limit outside his store as a result of campaigning with his local MP.

The road outside Sunder’s One Stop store features two schools but is subjected to cars frequently exceeding the 30mph speed limit. In a store visit at the end of 2014, Sunder spoke to his local MP Chris White about the problem and called on Mr White to help him in asking the local council to consider a 20mph limit on the road.

Research shows that more than half of the public (55%) find it difficult to support local small firms because often these businesses aren’t online. In fact, figures show that as many as 2 million (39%) sole traders and small companies are missing out on business because they have no online presence. In addition, over half of customers (52%) go straight to search engines when looking to buy from local businesses, nearly double the number that ask for word-of-mouth recommendations.

ACS has welcomed the simplified process for personal licence renewals set out by the Home Office ahead of the implementation of the Deregulation Bill.

The Deregulation Bill, which is currently before Parliament, intends to scrap the requirement for personal licence holders to renew their licence every ten years. However, the passing of this Bill will be after the ten year renewal point for those who were granted their licence in early 2005, so those holders will need to renew their licence.

Ed Miliband gave a speech on Monday (5^th January) in Salford, beginning Labour’s campaign ahead of the 2015 General Election. In his speech he highlighted the measures Labour would take that would affect small businesses. These measures include:

Local MP, Sajid Javid, recently met with convenience store retailer, Chaz Chahal, in his Costcutter store situated in Bromsgrove.

With ACS, Chaz invited his local MP to visit his store to highlight the important role that convenience stores play in local communities during the run up to the general election in May 2015. The pair discussed a variety of issues including parking, local competition and help for small businesses.

Mr Javid said: “It was fantastic to meet Chaz in his store. This is another example of a successful local business.

Councils are being urged to use their business rates powers to increase access to free-to-use cash machines on high streets and in town centres.

Companies who install and operate cash machines generally pay business rates to the local authority for each machine.

Small convenience stores can struggle with this despite there being help available from Government that reduces costs by offering business rates discounts to these firms.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has revealed that retail sales are forecast to exceed £335bn in 2014, an increase of 15 per cent on 2010.

Estimates from BIS also show this has been a record year for smaller firms who have turned over £71bn over the last year.

In the run up to the New Year, many convenience retailers will be maximising their sales in store through a range of seasonal products including fireworks.