ACS Calls for Action as Rogue Traders Continue to Harm Communities

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has called on the Government to take urgent action to tackle the rogue traders operating through mini marts, pop up shops, dodgy barbers and other shops on high streets across the UK.

For several years, ACS has been campaigning for the Government to do more to support responsible businesses as they see illicit activity taking place all around them, often linked to a wider underworld of criminal activity.

In March, ACS along with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, the National Business Crime Centre and Labour MPs Melanie Onn, Sadik Al-Hassan and Julie Minns, wrote to consumer protection Minister Kate Dearden calling for Government action in three main areas:

•    Provide more funding for Trading Standards teams to enforce in local communities
•    Make it easier to report illicit activity, as local Trading Standards teams can be difficult to contact and reporting through Citizens Advice can be inconsistent
•    Provide police with the legal powers to access tobacco track and trace data to support enforcement action against the illicit trade

ACS also published a report in 2024, warning that Trading Standards would need an additional £140m and hundreds of enforcement officers to deal with the growing problem of the illicit trade.

ACS chief executive Ed Woodall said: “Rogue businesses are popping up across the UK, selling a broad range of stolen, illicit and dangerous products that cause enormous damage to communities and the responsible retailers operating around them. This is not a fair fight for responsible convenience stores, who have a long list of procedures in place to ensure that they both follow and enforce the law. Rogue traders don’t have any of that, and yet still carry on without fear of reproach from the enforcement community which is drastically under-resourced to deal with the problem.

“The Government has established a cross-departmental taskforce to address the problem of rogue traders, but we need action now. There’s an additional £10m fund dedicated to tackling the illicit trade which needs to be allocated urgently to support the responsible retailers that are suffering as a result of those who don’t follow the rules and don’t see any consequences as a result.”

Figures from the 2026 ACS Crime Report show that 85% of retailers say that the sale of illicit products has increased around their business in the last year.

If you have information about illicit activity in your area, report it immediately to your local Trading Standards office.