Press Releases

The 2014 Local Shop Report has revealed the vital contribution that local shops make to the UK economy and the investment in services that continues to drive growth in the sector.

Published today, the report offers brand new information about the diverse range of services that stores offer to their communities as well as key information about the entrepreneurs that run stores, their staff and the market as a whole.

In response to a study on plain packaging in Australia, ACS has reiterated its call to the Department of Health to look closely at the operational impact that tobacco plain packaging would have on retailers and other businesses in the UK.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman has appeared on BBC radio and television to discuss the retention of current Sunday Trading regulations.

Speaking on Radio 5 Live and BBC Breakfast this morning on the 20 year anniversary of the introduction of the Sunday trading rules, Mr Lowman spoke of the important compromise that balances economic, social and cultural considerations.

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed a new crackdown on the illicit trade in tobacco and alcohol announced by HM Revenue and Customs.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “We believe that any retailer who sells non-duty paid alcohol or tobacco should be subject to the full force of the law. This new wave of activity from HMRC is a welcome sign, and their commitment to working with licensing authorities gives hope that more retailers selling illicit alcohol and tobacco will lose their licence.”

ACS has welcomed an announcement from energy company Opus on plans to stop the use of rollover contracts.

In an announcement posted on the company’s website, Opus state that will cease offering the automatic rollover contracts to all new customers as of October 2014. All existing customer contracts will stop auto-renewal by Spring 2015.

ACS has welcomed new evidence from Citizens Advice on small business energy contracts, and has renewed its call on Ofgem to ensure that all energy companies adhere to the same standards. 

The survey from Citizens Advice reports that 46% of small businesses are concerned about their electricity bills, compared with 16% who were worried about access to finance. 

ACS research

ACS has responded to the 2015 Manifesto published by the All Party Group on Alcohol Misuse.

The Group, which is a forum for MPs and Peers sympathetic to the policy objectives of alcohol health campaigners, has set out a ten point wish list of measures they would like to see imposed by the next Government. It includes minimum unit pricing, health warnings on alcohol labels and new powers for Councils to prevent the opening of new off licences.

ACS has called on the Department of Health to look again at the operational impact that plain tobacco packaging would have on retailers.

In its submission, ACS raises concerns that the operational burdens of standardized packaging on retailers have not been fully considered. ACS argues that the removal of branding on tobacco products would make those products more difficult to differentiate, increasing handling and transactions times at every stage.

ACS  has called for Government to scrap plans to impose a cap on the size of business that is eligible for compensation under the Riot Damages Act. 

The Riot Damages Act that was used to assess compensation during the 2011 riots was originally published in 1886.

‘Managing Health And Safety’ and ‘Selling Fireworks’ are the two latest Assured Advice Guides published by ACS under its innovative primary authority compliance scheme. The scheme, which is free to all ACS members, provides retailers with excellent tailored advice developed by retail and local authority experts.

Once members sign up to the scheme and use the guidance, they can be sure that their policies and procedures will not be challenged or changed by any other local authority.