News

A new pilot scheme is being launched in Gloucestershire to help high street businesses to work together to build their digital presence and promote their stores to customers.  The pilot is linked to the government's Future High Streets Forum, of which ACS is a board member.

The pilot will initially focus on Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud, and will include;

ACS has produced comprehensive new guidance for retailers on the upcoming changes to tobacco retailing coming into force as part of the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive and Standardised Packaging legislation.

From this Friday (20^th May 2016), manufacturers will only be able to produce tobacco in standardised packaging and in a minimum pack size of 20, with restrictions also being put in place for roll your own tobacco. Retailers have a sell-through period of one year in which to ensure that all of their stock is compliant with the new regulations.

The Government has set out its legislative agenda for the upcoming parliament, confirming the introduction of proposals announced by the Chancellor and Prime Minister over the last year including the local retention of business rates and a new levy on soft drinks.

The new Local Growth and Jobs Bill will put a framework in place to allow local authorities to retain 100% of the business rates they levy. Mayors will also be given the power to raise additional funding for infrastructure projects if they have the support of local businesses.

ACS is calling on convenience retailers to engage with their newly elected Police and Crime Commissioners and work with them on raising the profile and importance of crime against their businesses, especially on the issue of penalties for shop theft offences.

Ahead of the elections on May 5^th, ACS contacted a number of candidates across England and Wales, asking them to commit to a series of measures that would help local shops deal with crime in their area.

The commitments were:

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is encouraging retailers to take advantage of a new platform to allow them to train their staff on Assured Advice.

The platform, which has been developed by online learning company Bolt, will allow any ACS member to sign up to the Assured Advice scheme and benefit from both the assurance of the guides and industry leading training modules for staff members.

ACS has called on the Government to go further in their Red Tape Review to ensure that local authorities are consistent in their approach to enforcement, as well as removing the costly and unnecessary burdens experienced by licensed retailers.

In the submission, ACS welcomes the Government’s intention to remove £10 billion worth of regulation over the course of this Parliament but has highlighted that the local enforcement and interpretation of regulations cause significant problems for retailers in addition to the regulations themselves.

Figures released today (April 28^th) as part of the Home Office’s Commercial Victimisation Survey have found that one in five premises in the retail and wholesale sector were victims of shop theft over the last year, with the sector having the highest crime rate of any sector surveyed.

The survey states that wholesale and retail premises experienced 4.7m crimes in 2015, with almost three quarters of those crimes (72%) being attributed to theft by customers.

Ahead of the National Assembly for Wales elections on 5^th May, retailers are welcoming local candidates into their stores. These will be the fifth elections for the Assembly, which holds a range of powers over the economy, planning, employment and now business rates.

ACS chief executive James Lowman has called on the convenience sector to engage with local decision makers to establish their community credentials and make sure the economic role of local shops is understood. In his introductory remarks at Summit'16, Mr Lowman predicted that local public health interventions on alcohol, tobacco and sugar would become more common in the coming years, and was a big strategic threat for retailers to face up to.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to the Public Bill Committee’s call for evidence on the Policing and Crime Bill, raising concerns that a provision to no longer require alcohol licensing guidance to be scrutinised by Parliament could mean significant changes could be made to the guidance without any accountability.