The Association of Convenience Stores 2025 Rural Shop Report highlights the various ways retailers in rural communities make a difference to those communities. It also stresses the need for further support from government to ensure shops can continue to play that vital role.

With almost 19,000 rural shops in the UK, 76% are owned by independent retailers. Almost half (49%) are isolated stores, with no other retail or service businesses nearby.

40% of rural convenience stores are located on a small parade, with up to five retail or service businesses close by, while 11% are located on a larger parade or high street, with up to 10 retail/service businesses close by.

Rural shops operating by themselves in rural locations don’t have other businesses to draw in footfall, and with cash and carries often a distance away and wholesaler deliveries limited by the sparsity of businesses in the area, it can be costly and time consuming to access a range of foods.

As James Lowman, Chief Executive of the Association of Convenience Stores points out, rural shops often continue to face challenges when it comes to connectivity, something which was recently brought to bear when Storm Eowyn resulted in countless rural businesses being left without internet for over two weeks.

“While broadband provision and 4G/5G signals are improving, many rural shops still operate in areas where connectivity is slow and patchy, holding back investment in technology and other innovations in-store,” said James.

“Rural shops are increasingly acting as miniature high streets in their own right, taking on services that would have previously been available locally like access to cash, bill payments, Post Office services and prescription collections,” he added.

“In some cases, and especially in the case of providing access to cash through the provision of a free-to-use ATM, retailers are operating this service at a loss but are committed to doing so because of its importance to the community.”

Employing approximately 178,000 people, rural shops offer a variety of services including customer-operated coffee machines, in-store bakeries and hot food counters or cabinets.

Something of particular note in the report is that 90% of independent rural retailers engaged in some form of community activity in the past year. This is an area in which Northern Ireland retailers excel and have been rightly awarded for, having raised thousands of pounds for Northern Irish charities.

“The Rural Shop Report demonstrates the importance of these businesses, the services and technology that rural retailers are already investing in, and highlights the need for policymakers to include them in conversation about delivering services that their communities need in the same way as urban retailers,” added James Lowman.

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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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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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