The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has told an influential committee of MPs that the cost of trading is having an impact on retailers’ ability to invest in their people and their businesses.
Chief executive Ed Woodall gave evidence to the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) Committee on entrepreneurship and business yesterday in parliament (27 October), highlighting the rising cost of employment, business rates and energy in the convenience sector and the consequences of those increases.
Woodall said: “We employ over 456,000 people in our sector, but while the number has stayed the same, the cost of wages has gone up, meaning that we’re increasingly paying for fewer hours.
“What this means is that retailers are taking on more hours in the shop themselves and they’re unable to work on the business, making it more difficult to turn a profit at the end of the year.”
Business growth
The BIST committee inquiry is examining how people start and scale up businesses, and the barriers to business growth.
During the session, the ACS told MPs the most pressing thing retailers need to hear at the Budget later today is action on business rates.
Woodall continued: “Business rates have gone up by 79% as a sector since 2024 because more retailers have been dragged into paying rates. We need to see the Chancellor move the point at which businesses start paying rates from £12,000 rateable value to £18,000 rateable value so no small shop owner pays rates.”
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