Press Releases

Ahead of the reopening of more businesses including pubs, restaurants and cafes this Saturday (4^th July), ACS is reminding retailers of the resources available to them on key areas of the business like age restricted sales, social distancing, and managing abuse.

Today (3^rd July) the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a joint statement alongside a number of trade bodies, including ACS, highlighting concerns about a small number of businesses that are involved in price gouging. Evidence received as part of the taskforce revealed price increases on products such as paracetamol, flour, meat, toilet roll, rice and eggs.

Today (30^th June) the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published more information about their work on mapping access to cash to help identify ‘cold spots’.

The FCA and PSR have worked with other regulators to create a single database of the UK’s cash access points. Analysis of additional ONS information has showed that the majority of cold spots were in rural areas.

Findings from the 2020 Rural Shop Report revealed that 45% of rural shops provide a free to use cash machine for local customers.

The Scottish Parliament Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee has unanimously approved the general principles of a Bill which aims to increase protection for shopworkers. The Bill must now be agreed by MSPs and pass two further stages at Holyrood before it becomes law.

The ‘Protection of Workers Bill’ aims to increase protection for retail workers by:

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has called on the Government to take urgent action to stop the abuse and violence faced by people working in retail just for doing their job.  

Today (23^rd June) Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the next stage of changes to the lockdown measures in England.

During the announcement, Johnson confirmed that people should continue to aim to keep two metres apart but where this is not possible they should keep to one metre plus other mitigations such as use of face coverings, sitting side by side rather than face to face to reduce risk of transmission and frequent use of hand sanitiser.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has hosted a roundtable with retailers and representatives from the Low Pay Commission to discuss the impact of the National Living Wage (NLW) on convenience stores.  

During the roundtable, retailers discussed their experiences with Low Pay Commissioners Neil Carberry and Kay Carberry, highlighting their concerns about the impact of Covid-19 related operating costs to their business, including PPE for colleagues, in-store signage and temporary recruitment of colleagues.

More speakers have been announced for ACS’ Power, Mobility and Convenience virtual conference, taking place on 1^st July 2020.

This morning session will provide the opportunity for delegates to hear from expert speakers as they discuss the issues currently affecting forecourt retailers and some issues that they may face in the future. 

Speakers confirmed include:

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow MP confirmed that introduction of new legislation banning the sale of plastic drinking straws, plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plastic stirrers was delayed because of the coronavirus. 

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed a letter from Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, Paul Scully MP which highlights the vital and positive role that the retail sector has played during the coronavirus crisis.

In the letter, Paul Scully MP says: “I would like to echo the comments made by the Business Secretary in his letter of 8 April thanking retail workers who have continued to work in our shops, online and supply chains throughout this challenging period.