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There’s less than one month to go until the ACS Safe and Responsible Retailing Conference, taking place on Tuesday 5th March at the Eastside Rooms in Birmingham.

Safe + Responsible 2024 is a brand new event in the ACS calendar, bringing together experts in crime prevention, responsible retailing and product regulation to equip you with the tools and advice you need to navigate these issues and adapt your businesses for the future.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is calling on Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales to share information about how their forces are planning to tackle retail crime.

The Stop Shop Theft campaign currently has information from 10 PCCs on how they’re delivering the Retail Crime Action Plan, how retailers can report theft, and the single points of contact for force areas. The PCCs that have engaged with the campaign to date are:

There are only two weeks left to take part in the ACS Colleague Survey 2024, which is open to all convenience colleagues. This survey gives convenience colleagues the chance to share how they feel about their work and is vital in providing evidence to the Government and the Low Pay Commission about the value of working in the convenience sector and what could be improved. The data is also used in campaigns such as ShopKind to promote shop workers’ safety.

Our Forecourt, Power and Convenience Conference was a real success, and I wanted to share some of the things I learned:

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is celebrating the crucial role that rural shops play in thousands of communities across the UK as part of the launch of the 2024 Rural Shop Report.

The 2024 Rural Shop Report, launched today in Parliament, outlines the difference that the UK’s 17,986 rural shops make as secure local employers, as entrepreneurs investing and working with local businesses, and as essential service providers.

Key findings from the 2024 Rural Shop Report include:

ACS has called for better enforcement of existing regulations in response to the Government’s announcement that it is to ban disposable vapes.

ACS has launched new guidance for retailers on how to provide a vape recycling service in store. 

Under the new rules, which came into force at the start of 2024, all retailers who sell vapes (regardless of type of store) must provide a recycling facility for consumers to bring back used or unwanted vapes. 

Earlier this week I attended the launch of Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber’s Retail Crime Strategy, and it was good to see some of our members there as well as senior police officers, other businesses and the media.

ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) has recently launched its 2024 Colleague Survey which calls on all frontline convenience colleagues to share their experiences working within the sector. The questionnaire covers topics such as travelling to work, employment contracts, flexible work opportunities, and use of benefits. 

The data is vital to ACS’ employment policy campaign work, such as lobbying for improvements in colleagues’ working environments and contributing to other research such as the Local Shop Report.