The Association of Convenience Stores is the voice of over 33,500 local shops, supporting our members through effective lobbying, comprehensive advice and innovative networking opportunities.

ACS’ core purpose is to lobby Government on the issues that make a difference to local shops, supported by an expanding research programme designed to discover new information about the convenience sector which can be used to inform decision making both in Government and with those involved directly in the sector.

The 2019 Local Shop Report has revealed that the 46,388 stores in the UK convenience sector currently employ around 405,000 people, generating sales of over £40.3bn over the last year. The report, launched this week by the Association of Convenience Stores, demonstrates how important the UK’s network of convenience stores are to thousands of communities and millions of customers.

Key findings from this year’s report include:

• The convenience sector contributed over £8.8bn in GVA over the last year, as well as over £7.7bn in direct and indirect taxes like excise duties, VAT, business rates and corporation tax
• Convenience store retailers have invested £633m in the last year on improving their stores, extending the range of services available to customers and making their businesses more efficient
• Post Offices and convenience stores are the top two services that have a positive impact on a local area
• 19% of independent convenience store owners work more than 70 hours a week
• 26% of convenience store customers visit their local shop every day

Welcome to Warwickshire!

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Seccombe provided support for the work the ACS is doing around business crime, and meeting ACS was the opportunity for the PCC to find out more about their work and for update them on what is being done in Warwickshire to address the issue.
We were joined by the OPCC’s Development and Policy Lead Debbie Mullis and Business Crime Advisor Bogdan Fironda, who was able to outline the work he carries out to support ACS members, through the Warwickshire Business Watch, crime prevention visits and through partner agencies.

Crime Report 2019

The 2019 Crime Report shows that crimes committed against the convenience sector cost an estimated £246m over the last year, equivalent to over £5,300 for every store in the UK, or what amounts to a 7p tax on every transaction.

The single biggest trigger for violence and abuse was shop theft. ACS estimates that there have been over a million incidents of theft over the last year, with retailers reporting that the vast majority of thefts committed against their business (79%) are by repeat offenders that aren’t being dealt with by local police forces.

Key findings from this year’s Crime Report include:

• The three biggest concerns for retailers are violence against staff, theft by customers and verbal abuse against staff
• The report estimates that there were almost 10,000 incident of violence in the sector over the last twelve months
• Of crimes committed where a weapon was present, the most commonly used weapon was a knife (68% of incidents)

The report also shows that there is a clear link between retailers just doing their jobs by upholding the law, and being subject to abuse. The top three triggers for aggressive or abusive behaviour are challenging shop thieves, enforcing age restrictions, for example refusing a sale to someone without ID and refusing to serve drunks.