Unlocking Epos

James Lowman Local Shop Report highlights the critical role independent stores play in local economies and communities.

At your service

The Local Shop report highlights the breadth and depth of services that convenience stores offer to their customers.

Every year, we produce what we believe to be the defi nitive look at the UK convenience sector, the people running stores, the colleagues working in those stores, and the communities that they serve.

The 2022 Local Shop Report reveals some impressive numbers about the sector: 48,590 stores providing 405,000 fl exible, local and secure jobs, contributing over £9bn in taxes, and investing over £605m in improvements in refrigeration, lighting, and full store refi ts. These fi gures are absolutely crucial in showing how important local shops are to the economy, especially at diffi cult times like this.

One of the aspects of the industry that the report highlights is the breadth and depth of services that convenience stores off er to their customers. Since starting the report in 2012, the overall level of service provision has grown steadily. However, this year we’ve noticed a concerning trend in the number of both free to use, and charged, cash machines that are provided by convenience retailers.

We’ve been campaigning for several years on the issues of interchange fees, the business rates levied on ATMs, and the importance of providing access to cash to local communities, with the warning that providing an ATM in store is becoming a diffi cult

proposition for many retailers who are in some cases losing money on the provision of that service. 44% of convenience stores now provide a free to use cash machine and 18% provide a charged one, compared to 49% and 23% last year. While this may not seem like too much of a signifi cant shift, local shops are now often the only place that consumers can access cash locally, so every ATM lost has an impact. Energy price hikes haven’t impacted what we off er IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO much … yet, but if we don’t get long-term support on energy bills, the sector won’t maintain the levels GET INVOLVED IN THE of chilled and frozen space we currently off er.

POLITICAL WORK OF ACS Unsurprisingly, there is a dramatic uptick in the ....................... CALL ...................... percentage of stores that have energy saving 01252 515 001 measures like solar panels (currently 5%). These issues are symptomatic of a wider trend ............. OR LOG ON TO ........... in convenience in 2022 – retailers are facing www.acs.org.uk increased costs in all areas of their businesses, whether it be employment, utilities, fuel, service provision, delivery costs or product costs, and are already making diffi cult decisions about what they can keep off ering and where they need to cut back. The Local Shop Report is an important tool for us in educating new Ministers and Government offi cials on the importance of the UK convenience sector and forms a key part of our campaigning activity to help stores keep trading successfully into the future.