The trade body’s 2024 Crime Report outlines the scale of retail crime and reveals that retailers have recorded over 600 incidents of theft an hour over the last year.

With the top motivations for repeat offending being drug or alcohol addiction, organised crime and opportunism, some 76% of retailers believe organised crime has become more prevalent in the last year.

A shocking 87% of colleagues in convenience stores have faced verbal abuse over the last year, with two thirds (67%) of retailers believing that the cost-of-living crisis has led to an increase in theft.

The ACS report also highlights a huge increase in violent incidents committed against retailers and their colleagues, with approximately 76,000 incidents of violence in shops compared to 41,000 in the 2023 Crime Report.

SUPPORT

Retailers are doing what they can to fight back by investing in crime prevention and detection measures, with £339m spent over the last year in areas including CCTV, security staff, intruder alarms and internal communication systems.

However, the 2024 figures show that more action is needed, according to the ACS.

The body is calling on the government to take a number of actions to support retailers amidst the crime crisis including delivering justice for shopworkers and effective sanctions for offenders.

It is also calling for additional police resources to focus on neighbourhood policing to keep communities safe and support further investment in technology to deter and detect criminals.

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He will join Susan Connolly, Trading Director of Connolly SPAR in Wiltshire and Rob George of McColls as new directors on the ACS board.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We are delighted to welcome these new appointments to the ACS board, who bring with them a diverse range of skills and experience which will strengthen our strategic planning during what is a challenging time for the retail sector.

“The ACS team is looking forward to working closely with new and existing board members on continuing to deliver the best representation, advice, and industry leading networking opportunities for our members.”

Darren Nickels is Retail Technology Operations Director at Henderson Technology. In 1998 he joined the Henderson Group in Northern Ireland and has played a key role in the growth of the technology service side of the business in the UK and Australia.

“I am very excited to join the Board of Directors at the ACS. It is a great honour for me to be able to share my retail technology experience with forward-thinking independent convenience retailers who are looking to make important decisions that will positively affect the future of their business,” he said.

Susan is a director of Connolly SPAR, an award-winning retail business with four SPAR stores in Wiltshire. Connolly SPAR has been trading for over 60 years in the area.

Susan Connolly said: “I am proud to represent the independent retailers on the board and look forward to the new position, working with ACS on the challenges facing independent retailers in the future.”

Rob George joined McColl’s in September 2021 as the Customer Director, responsible for keeping the customer firmly at the heart of the business. Prior to this, Rob spent more than 10 years at Sainsbury’s in a number of roles, including leading the Sainsbury’s Local business.

Rob George said: “Since joining McColl’s, assured advice from ACS has been invaluable in helping understand and plan for the implications of key industry shifts such as HFSS and DRS legislation. I’m delighted to join the board so I can give something back to this essential organisation.”

The new board appointments replace Debbie Robinson, Paul Cheema and Andy Cresswell who are leaving the board. Paul Cheema will remain on the ACS Independents Board.

A full list of ACS board members is available on the ACS website.

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ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Debbie has been a fantastic chair over the last two years, demonstrating incredible commitment to both ACS and the wider convenience sector during some of the most challenging times for retailers in living memory.

“Under Debbie’s inspirational leadership ACS significantly enhanced our support for both retailers and suppliers, and we look to the future in a stronger position than ever.

“I am delighted to be working with Louise as ACS chair. She has been a key part of ACS activity from the board since she joined in 2019, and she was a unanimous and enthusiastic choice to become chair.

Momentum

Hoste joined Spar in 2019, She has also worked for Walmart in the UK, Canada and Chile in commercial, customer and general management roles.After leaving Walmart Louise was director of category and pricing at Brakes Foodservice, followed by director of the customer offer at the Co-op. It was in this role where she re-launched the Co-op brand across the food ranges and worked on the ‘Closer To You’ strategy supporting the local and community agenda.

Hoste said: “It really is an honour to be able to support and contribute to all the work that the ACS do, especially as we have seen over the last 18 months how vital the team have been to the sector.

“Local convenience stores have shown how important they are to the communities that we live in. They enhance and enable them to thrive. I want to ensure that we capture the momentum that now exists for local stores, and through using the latest innovations and listening to customers we can provide a relevant and progressive offer for our membership.”

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The Association of Convenience Stores set out its recommendations for a scheme that is ‘workable and sustainable for all retailers and that has a meaningful impact on recycling rate’s. These include introducing a scheme that has the same scope in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to minimise the risk of fraud.

Including all sizes of packaging within the scope of the scheme as part of an ‘all-in’ model is also recommended as is setting the minimum deposit level at 20p. Cartons should also be included within the scope of the regulations, as should glass, subject to being able to be compacted (not crushed).

The committee acknowledges that there are safety concerns for small retailers around the inclusion of glass within the scheme, especially those who rely on collecting containers manually, and that these would need to be addressed for the committee to continue with its support for glass being included in scope.

Manual returns system

The Environmental Audit Committee report also recognises concerns raised by ACS about the difficulties of operating a manual returns system and the need for a well-designed set of return points. The committee said: “We welcome the approach to not specify the type of return point that retailers will be obligated to provide, given the challenges for small retailers for manual collection, and the possibility for future technological development. We also welcome that accessibility and ease of return is a crucial principle in the return point policy, although this should also be balanced against the cost of unnecessary duplication of reverse vending machines which are expensive.”

In response, ACS chief executive James Lowman, said: “We welcome the committee’s recognition of the challenges faced by small stores who would be responsible for making a deposit return scheme work. Convenience stores are committed to working with government on developing an effective, well-designed scheme that boosts recycling rates, but which must not place unnecessary burdens on retailers.”

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Prime minister Boris Johnson has unveiled plans to invest £1.3bn to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints for electric vehicles in homes, streets, and on motorways across England.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Maxol’s announcement that it has teamed up with green energy and technology company bright energy, which will drive the EV sector in Northern Ireland forward.

Boris Johnson confirmed that cars fully powered by petrol or diesel cannot be produced after 2030, but some hybrid cars will be allowed to be produced and sold for a period after 2030.

Huge challenges for forecourt retailers

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman has spoken out. He said: “This will bring huge challenges for petrol forecourt retailers: maintaining supply of petrol and diesel to a declining but very large market of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, offering fast and convenient charging facilities to EV drivers many of whom will typically charge at home or elsewhere away from the current forecourt network, and responding to other developments in powering vehicles, for example hydrogen.

“Every method of powering vehicles requires significant investment to offer safely and effectively, so these businesses need support and positive incentives to help with this transformation.

“Convenience stores, whether they currently sell fuel or not, are naturally an environmentally friendly part of the retail market. Half of our customers and half of our colleagues walk to the store to shop and work, we help minimise food waste by allowing shoppers to buy food more frequently and in smaller quantities, and we are investing in energy-efficient equipment and recycling facilities in stores. Our sector is perfectly placed to respond to the agenda set out by the prime minister today.”

ACS has responded to a consultation from the Department for Transport on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans from 2040 to 2035, calling on the government to do more to provide fuel retailers with support to introduce EV charging points.

PRA issues warning

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has issued its warning over 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans.

PRA chairman Brian Madderson said: “The PRA supports the process of decarbonisation, but we need a comprehensive plan to reduce carbon emissions that works across sectors and industries, including aviation.

While most electric vehicle drivers charge their car at home, there is currently a network of 337 public charge points across Northern Ireland, according to NI government website NI Direct. All public charge points on the ecarNI network in Northern Ireland and the ESB ecars network in the Republic of Ireland are interoperable at present and can currently be accessed using the ecarNI Access Card.

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