Other News

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is welcoming the inclusion of additional products to the Healthy Start scheme in England and Wales from October.

Healthy Start is a government initiative which provides pregnant women and parents with young children, who are in receipt of qualifying benefits, Healthy Start vouchers which can be used to purchase certain products in store.

The items currently in the scope of the scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland include: fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, cow’s milk and infant formula suitable for use from birth.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the extension of the ban on business evictions to the end of the year, as announced by Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick.

The initial ban on evictions was introduced at the start of the pandemic to protect struggling firms, such as restaurants and retailers, from being evicted to the premises and was due to expire at the end of September.

The NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app is due to be launched on 24^th September as part of the coronavirus testing and contact tracing programmes in England and Wales.

The app will be used, alongside traditional methods of contact tracing, to help prevent the spread of coronavirus by notifying users when they come into contact with someone who later tests positive for coronavirus and providing them with advice on what to do next.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is promoting new guidance for retailers developed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on meeting legal requirements towards disabled customers.

The guidance outlines reasonable adjustments for retailers to consider in order to support disabled customers visiting their store, including:

More speakers have been announced for the convenience and local shop sector’s pre-eminent political event, the ACS Heart of the Community conference!

This year’s conference will take place virtually on 13th October, bringing together convenience retailers, industry experts and senior policy makers to explore how the latest political agenda and legacy of Covid-19 will impact convenience store businesses now and into the future.