Rural shops across the UK generated £18.5bn in sales last year, playing an essential role in their communities.
That’s the verdict of the ACS’s 2025 Rural Shop Report, launched this week.
The Report celebrates the investment, community contribution and range of services provided by the UK’s almost 19,000 rural convenience stores, despite significant challenges ahead.
The ACS found that 40% of rural shops are the only convenience store in rural areas, with no other shops or businesses nearby. They provide secure, flexible jobs for over 178,000 people. And rural retailers have invested over £240m in their businesses over the last year to better serve their communities
The report highlights the unique challenges that rural retailers face compared to their more urban counterparts, including a lack of connectivity, issues with the cost and availability of deliveries, theft and other retail crime, and more.
An example is Hopes of Longtown, featured in the report. An award-winning village shop and Post Office at the foot of the Black mountains in Hereford, the shop currently receives 100% discretionary business rates relief from the local council because of its status as the only shop in the village, but owner Christine Hope is concerned that this could be dropped as councils deal with growing budget deficits.
ACS chief executive James Lowman says: “Hundreds of thousands of people in isolated areas across the UK rely on their local shop to provide them with the products and services that they need. If rural shops aren’t able to survive, invest and adapt, nobody will step in to host the Post Office, offer other essential services and promote the human interaction and social glue that binds those communities.
“These shops need to be supported by both local and national policymakers at a time when costs are rising significantly as a result of the Budget. We are calling on all MPs in rural constituencies to commit their support for the rural shops that trade at the heart of their communities.”
The full 2025 Rural Shop Report is available here: https://cdn.acs.org.uk/public/ACS%20Rural%20Shop%20Report%202025.pdf