The Local Shop Report has been in place since 2012, discovering key information about the convenience sector. Below are some highlights from previous editions of the report.
2017
Key findings from the report include:
- Convenience store retailers have invested over £858m in the last year on improving their stores, extending the range of services available to customers and making their businesses more efficient
- 20% of independent convenience store owners work more than 70 hours a week, while 19% take no holiday throughout the year
- Sales have risen by £500m in the past year to £38bn – which makes this sector of the economy comparable in scale to other large UK sectors like recruitment, defence, and oil & gas
2016
Key findings from the report include:
- There are 50,095 convenience stores in mainland UK, making up a sector that is worth £37.5 billion, a growth of over £400m on 2015.
- Local shops are a vital source of employment – across the UK, the convenience store sector provides jobs for 390,000 people, but the number of staff employed in each store has fallen, and more staff are working part-time hours.
- Convenience stores have invested over £600m in their businesses over the last year on improving their stores.
2015
Key findings from the report include:
- There are now 51,524 convenience stores in mainland UK, making up a sector that is now worth £37.7billion, a growth of 5% on 2014.
- The value the convenience sector adds to the economy in Gross Value Added is just over £5bn
- Local shops are a vital source of employment – nationally, the convenience store sector provides jobs for over 407,000 people.
- Local shop owners are some of the hardest working people in the UK – 25% of shop owners work more than 70 hours per week on average, and 20% take no holiday at all throughout the year.
2014
Key findings from the report include:
- There are now 50,747 convenience stores in mainland UK, making up a sector that is now worth £37.4billion, a growth of 5.2% on 2013.
- Local shops are a vital source of employment – nationally, the convenience store sector provides jobs for over 386,000 people.
- Local shop owners are some of the hardest working people in the UK – 23% of shop owners work more than 70 hours per week on average, and 20% take no holiday at all throughout the year.
2013
- There are 49,888 convenience stores in mainland UK, making up a sector that is now worth £35.6billion, a growth of 5% on 2012.
- Local shops are a source of new investment – almost three quarters of convenience store owners
(73%) are new investors - Local shops are a vital source of employment – nationally, the convenience store sector provides jobs for around 375,000 people
- Local shops provide a vast range of services to their community – more than one in four stores offer home grocery delivery, 64% provide bill payment services and almost 5,000 feature new technologies like contactless payment.
- Local shop owners are some of the hardest working people in the UK – 57% of shop owners work more than 50 hours per week on average, and more than half of local shop owners have been in the business for more than 10 years.
2012
- Local shops foster entrepreneurs, more than 77% of stores owned and operated by small business owners. It is also a place for many starting out in business, 70% of retailers are investing for the first time; and it also attracts people of all ages, 1 in 10 is under 30 years old.
- Local shops are a vital source of employment offering in excess of 372,000 jobs across the country. A quarter of employees are aged 16-24 and 88% of stores offer training. It is also a sector where families work together more than 60% of independent retailers employ at least one other member of their family
- Local shop ownership is ethnically diverse – 48% of local shop retailers cite themselves as Asian British and there is significant variation by region with 89% of London retailers citing themselves as Asian compared to 13% in the South West.
- Local shop owners work long hours – 60% of retailers work longer than 50 hours per week and 31% take less than 10 days holiday a year.
- Local shops provide a growing range of services such as bill payment services, cash machines, mail order collection and home news and grocery delivery.
