Press Releases

The Association of Convenience Stores has called on the Government to provide Trading Standards in England with an additional £140m over the next five years to fund a new battalion of 400 enforcement officers, aimed at tackling the rising tide of illegal vape devices being distributed in England.

Figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, published today, show that shoplifting

ACS has welcomed confirmation from the government that the introduction of deposit return schemes in the UK will be pushed back to October 2027, subject to agreement from the devolved administrations. 

In a written ministerial statement published this morning (April 25th), Robbie Moore MP confirmed that the previously scheduled October 2025 go live date for a deposit return scheme was a ‘stretching target’ and that an October 2027 implementation would be required to ensure that the rollout of schemes was effective and efficient. 

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, highlighting the human impact of crime on local shops and the challenges retailers face when reporting crime to the police.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the announcement of a series of measures aimed at supporting retailers and their colleagues in the battle against violent crime and repeat offending. 

The measures announced today by the Prime Minister include: 

• Assaulting a retail worker to be made a standalone criminal offence

The Scottish Government have published a new six week consultation on the implementation of the disposable vapes ban, expanding on the definition of a disposable vape and outlining the fines that will be issued to businesses who continue to sell and supply disposables after a ban.

The ban, which is scheduled to come into force in April 2025, is subject to separate regulations in Scotland which closely resemble those in England. Scotland are the first UK nation to provide more detail on their definition of a disposable vape, which is as follows:

There’s only one month to go until Conference24, our biggest event of the year. Taking place on Tuesday April 30th at the Vox in Birmingham, this is a must-attend for anyone in the convenience sector looking to grow their business, build valuable relationships, and gain exclusive insights into changing consumer habits and how to respond to these going forward. This will be our biggest Conference yet, and we’ve got an exciting line-up of sponsors this year which includes Mondelez Snack Display, Coca-Cola Enterprise Partners, and One Stop.

ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) has called on the Government to focus on effective enforcement to deal with the huge illicit trade in vapes that will receive a £645m boost if disposable vapes are banned next year.

In response to the Government’s short consultation on the proposals to ban disposable vape devices from April 2025, ACS has highlighted a number of fundamental issues with DEFRA’s own impact assessment on the ban, warning that it has significantly underestimated the losses that will be felt by retailers.

The Government has published the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, confirming the introduction of a ban on the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1st January 2009.

The Bill contains enabling powers for the Secretary of State to introduce a wide range of restrictions on the vaping category, including limitations on a number of areas including: 

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has praised the work that local shops in Wales do in their communities as part of the launch of the 2024 Welsh Local Shop Report.

At the launch of the report today (Thursday 14th March) in the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament), ACS engaged with members of the Senedd on the role that convenience stores play in communities across Wales and emphasised the importance of local shops not just as community hubs, but also as local investors and job creators.