The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has unveiled an unprecedented industry-wide consultation that will set the agenda for local shops into the next general election and beyond.
The Heart of the Community consultation which begins on May 1 will run for ten weeks until July 10. In the consultation there are ten actions that government could take to support the local shop sector; voters are asked to pick their three priorities.
Each option will be championed by an ACS local shop campaigner. The results will be unveiled in September 2009 in advance of the political party conference season. Leading politicians will be invited to respond to the agenda at the ACS Heart of the Community Seminar on November 3, 2009.
ACS chief executive James Lowman, speaking at the ACS Summit 09, said: “Local shops are vitally important to the country; we are a multi-billion pound industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people and we are present in every community. People define where they live, their quality of life and their social network in part by their access to local shops, and every day I hear of more examples of our members doing something extraordinary for their community.
“As the politicians prepare for a general election we have a golden opportunity to set out clearly what we want. To do that properly we need to hear from retailers about the issues that concern them most, whether it is business rates, national minimum wage, crime or supermarket dominance".
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