The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has told a committee of MPs that rising trading costs are limiting retailers' ability to invest in their people and their businesses.
ACS chief executive Ed Woodall gave evidence to the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) Committee on entrepreneurship and business on 27 October, ahead of the Budget. He highlighted the rising cost of employment, business rates and energy in the convenience sector and the consequences of those increases.
Impact on employment and hours
During the evidence session, Woodall said: "We employ over 456,000 people in our sector, but while the number of people employed 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."
Call for business rates action
The BIST committee inquiry is examining how people start and scale up businesses, and the barriers to business growth. During the session, ACS told MPs that the most pressing thing retailers need to hear at the Budget 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 that no small shop owner pays rates."
