New Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) chief executive Ed Woodall has outlined his goals for the trade body as the sector faces a multitude of challenges.
In a sit-down interview at the National Convenience Show in Birmingham, Woodall highlighted the main challenges facing retailers in the sector. “There are three standout challenges that we’re going to be campaigning on,” he explained. “The first one is the cost of trading which covers national living wage, business rates, employer national insurance contributions, and other regulations coming in.
“The second is crime. There are some positive trends around retail crime that suggest that the level of theft and the level of violence and abuse are slowing, but it’s still way too high. We’ve got to keep the government and the police’s feet to the fire on investing and addressing that issue.
“The third one, which I think is probably the most frustrating, is rogue traders on the high street, rogue businesses selling illicit products, things like vapes, tobacco, illicit chocolate, but essentially undercutting retailers, responsible retailers that are compliant.”
Woodall warned that new regulations will play a big factor in business over the next 18 months. “At the ACS, we keep a policy tracker to help retailers understand what new policies coming down the line. That policy tracker currently stands at 28 pages, with 47 lines of policy that are coming in over the next three years. So, we’ve got a lot to do in terms of helping retailers navigate all those challenges coming down the line.”
He said that while the ACS is evolving under his leadership, the mission remains the same. “One thing that won’t change about me leading the ACS is that the voice of local shops in government is absolutely essential. It’s got to be the strongest voice possible so we can have an impact on the policy issues. One of the things we can dial up is making sure that retailers’ voices are at the very centre of that.”
He explained that this approach is key in the modern political environment. “In the current political environment, we see that the political views are polarized and increasingly, the debate in politics is emotive. However, I think you get most cut-through when you have retailers’ voice right at the centre of it.”
On the store theft issue, Woodall urged a more stream-lined approach to reporting. “If you have a go at reporting online, go to your local police force’s website and have a look and try and use their online reporting form - it’ll take you about 20 minutes, maybe a little bit more, to report a shop theft.
And if you go through the wrong sort of flow chart of ticking through it, it’ll take you much longer. When you get to the other end, depending on which police force you’re working with, it might be more intuitive or less intuitive for you to be able to upload your CCTV. And for us, that’s the big challenge. I think the police have standards around what kind of evidence you have to report, but we’re saying to them, the reality of a retailer having the time to do that when they’re under this much pressure is really difficult, and you have to streamline that process.
“Some larger retailers have just said that they’re going to pay for a service where someone else will report that for them. And I want to make sure that the police are not leaving behind smaller retailers from being able to do that.
“So, we’re really pushing them to think, how do you streamline? How do you make it really easy to be able to report in the future? And if we can do that, we’ll get more incidents reported and as a result, that data forces the police to do more because they will be led by the data. Currently in our crime report, there are 5. 6 million thefts estimated in the convenience sector - currently, England and Wales police are recording about half a million in total, so we’re way off in terms of reporting levels.”
He added that engagement with retailers has had to evolve as well.
“The ACS is changing how we communicate with retailers. We have got to hang out more where they hang out in terms of the social media channels they use to reach a broader network of retailers. I think one of the challenges is that it’s harder for retailers to get out of their business, so we’ve got to go and meet them where they are and get the resources and the information to them. And that means that we’re going to change and tweak ACS’s communication approach and make sure it’s right for now, so we can reach as many retailers as possible and bring through the next generation of retailers as a result.”
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