All ACS articles – Page 23
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Analysis
James Lowman - ACS chief executive
The March 2016 Budget is likely to be remembered by the general public for what ended up not happening, notably the review of benefits to the disabled. It may also be remembered for the announcement of the levy on companies selling sugary drinks. I may be a cynic, but I ...
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News
ACS warns of impact of National Living Wage
The National Living Wage, which came into force today (1 April), will have a serious impact on the convenience store sector, the ACS has warned. For all employees aged 25 and over, the new minimum rate of pay will be £7.20 per hour. The Chancellor announced the National Living Wage ...
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News
New NMW will hit investment warns ACS
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned that increases in the National Minimum Wage rate for people aged 24 and under will reduce investment and job creation by local shops. The government has accepted and published recommendations by the Low Pay Commission for the following minimum hourly wage ...
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News
ACS slams Osborne over Sunday trading claim
Claims made by Chancellor George Osborne about the link between online shopping and Sunday trading have been shown to be wrong and misguided by new polling, according to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). Polling of more than 2,000 consumers in January 2016 showed that two thirds of consumers had ...
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News
Don’t scrap retail rate relief, urges ACS
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the government to outline its plan for meaningful business rates reform and reinstate the Retail Rate Relief scheme as business rates income reaches record levels. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG ) released figures claiming that business rates income ...
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News
ACS slams bid to justify Sunday trading change
Government attempts to justify relaxing Sunday trading regulations have been ridiculed by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), and it has called on MPs to reject the proposed change. The Department for Business (BIS) published its response to the consultation on liberalising Sunday Trading, but the ACS said it had ...
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Analysis
James Lowman - ACS chief executive
In the summer of 2015, ACS launched one of its biggest ever campaigns in opposition to changes to Sunday Trading regulations announced by the Chancellor in his July Budget. We lobbied hard to ensure that the issue was front-of-mind for MPs, and as a result of the campaigning work, a ...
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News
ACS warns MPs of £925m impact of National Living Wage on c-store sector
The impact of the National Living Wage on the convenience retail sector has been spelled out to MPs by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), ahead of a delegated legislation committee debate on the topic. In evidence submitted to the Low Pay Commission in 2015 and to the Treasury ahead ...
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News
ACS urges simplification of business rates
ACS has called on the Government to ensure that the business rates appeals system is simple and accessible for retailers. It was responding to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)’s consultation on proposed changes to the business rates appeals system, which was launched in November by high streets ...
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News
ACS opposes Welsh tobacco measures
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) reiterated its opposition to proposals in the Public Health Bill to introduce a tobacco register for retailers ahead of a debate on the Bill in the National Assembly for Wales on December 8. ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Compliance with tobacco regulations in ...
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News
ACS calls for extension of rate discount
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has responded to figures on business rate reliefs released by the Department for Communities and Local Government, calling for an extension of the business rate discount for small businesses. The figures show that local authorities granted £1,061m in relief under the Small Business Rate ...
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News
ACS backs Small Business Saturday
ACS is encouraging convenience store retailers to get involved in Small Business Saturday 2015, taking place this year on December 5th. Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which highlights small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses in their communities. The day ...
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News
ACS unveils new training package
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is encouraging retailers to take advantage of a new platform to allow them to train their staff on Assured Advice. The platform, which has been developed by online learning company Bolt, will allow any ACS member to sign up to the Assured Advice scheme ...
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News
ACS urges chancellor to revamp rates
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the chancellor to take action on business rates, employment costs and drop proposals to devolve Sunday trading rules, in its submission to the Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement on November 25. Since the chancellor’s announcements of the introduction of a ...
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News
ACS welcomes business rates consultation
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has welcomed proposals from the Department of Communities and Local Government which aim to make the appeals system for business rates more efficient. The consultation was launched this week by High Streets Minister Marcus Jones, who claims that the plans will ensure businesses ...
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News
ACS keeps up fight on bag tax
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is continuing to urge the government to include smaller retailers in England’s single-use carrier bag charge after a government report shows Scotland’s universal charge has cut usage by 650 million bags in its first year. The figures, released by the Scottish government, show that ...
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Analysis
James Lowman - ACS chief executive
At the start of September, we launched our fourth annual Local Shop Report and it was great to see so many of you in Manchester to be among the first to get the information. One of the chapters looks at employment in our sector, and this year we reached 400,000 ...
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News
ACS warns over Living Wage
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has submitted new evidence to the Low Pay Commission, detailing the thousands of jobs that will be lost in the convenience sector as a result of the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016. ACS has estimated that in 2016, the introduction of ...
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News
Government figures wrong protests ACS
Figures released by Government as part of a consultation on changes to Sunday Trading regulations have been dismissed as out of date and misleading, by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). ACS chief executive James Lowman said: "Every figure that the Government has put forward to justify the case for ...
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News
ACS publishes Local Shop Report
The ACS has published its 2015 Local Shop Report which will be sent to every MP to impress on them the value of the sector to communities and the economy. The report offers new information about the value that local shops provide their communities, as well as key information about ...