The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has taken part in a third hearing before the Competition Commission (CC), as part of its ongoing grocery market Inquiry.
Working with colleagues in the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and others, ACS is a main party to the inquiry and has led the case for the small shop sector.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “At every stage of this process we have provided a detailed and considered case about the competition problems in the UK grocery market. In our hearing we had the opportunity to make our case about how and why we oppose parts of their provisional findings, not least the commission’s continued reliance on inappropriate data to describe trends in the convenience store sector. The commissioners can be in no doubt about the extent of our concerns.
“In discussing remedies related to planning, we urged the CC not to propose measures that will weaken town centre first planning policy and entrench the dominant position of the big four. On the Supermarket Code of Practice, we encouraged the commission to be bold in tackling incidents where retailers abuse their market power in their dealings with suppliers.”
ACS is continuing to work with the commission on the last and crucial stage of the inquiry, and further evidence will be submitted following the hearing.
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