James Lowman news, comment and analysis – Page 29
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Make your store easy for the disabled to use
Gurdail Dubb Retailer Says: I do not have a ramp outside my shop because there is only a one-and-a-half inch difference between the level of the pavement and my shop entrance. If people need to come into the shop with pushchairs...
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Make your store easy for the disabled to use
Gurdail Dubb - RetailerI do not have disabled access or a ramp outside my shop because there is only a one-and-a-half inch difference between the level of the pavement and my shop entrance.If people need to come into the shop with...
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Small retailers to get inquiry voice
Small retailers' leaders are to create a business model designed to determine the effect of the major multiples on unaffiliated c-stores. The move is part of the Association of Convenience Stores' submission to the Competition Commission...
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Driver-friendly rules for parking praised
The Association of Convenience Stores has welcomed government proposals to introduce more motorist-friendly council parking enforcement.The country-wide plans were unveiled by Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for transport, this...
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Bid to show the waterbed effect exists
Independents and wholesalers will submit more evidence to the Competition Commission groceries inquiry to prove the existence of the waterbed effect.Following a meeting between the ACS, the FWD and the inquiry team, ACS chief executive...
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Friendor foe?
Kit Kats. He likes Kit Kats. We know what Gordon Brown thinks about tax, the free market economy, child poverty. And we are fast learning about his green aspirations. But as the new PM prepares this week to lead the country for the first time,...
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Come on - tell it like it is urges CC
The Competition Commission's investigation of the UK grocery market will require "help from everyone and anyone who wants to come to talk to us", the inquiry chairman Peter Freeman said this week. Speaking to The Grocer about the...
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Tougher code is top bet
Independent retailers, wholesalers and supermarkets alike are keeping their fingers crossed ahead of the provisional findings of the groceries market inquiry by the Competition Commission, which is expected next...
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And on the 7th day...
Relaxed Sunday trading laws - but has anyone asked the workers? Beth Brooks reports. The release last week of the Department of Trade and Industry's independent cost-benefit analysis into easing or removing current restrictions on...
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Chips with everything
From February 14, customers paying for goods with debit or credit cards must always use their PIN number. But are retailers fully ready for the transition, asks Beth BrooksIn 10 days’ time, customers paying for goods with credit or...
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‘We need OFT referral now!’
A “massive, high-profile investigation” into the power of supermarkets must be carried out over the next five years, a Commons committee warned the OFT this week.Revelations that OFT chief executive John Fingleton was forced to appear before...
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ACS slams review of Sunday hours
The Association of Convenience Stores has been quick out of the blocks to criticise the Department of Trade and Industry’s decision to review Sunday trading laws.Last week, secretary of state Alan Johnson said the DTI was conducting a...
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Battle over forecourt deals
Tesco’s acquisition of the former Safeway forecourts is still sparking opposition at both national and local levels, even though the number it now proposes to buy is down to 21 from 30.The Office of Fair Trading is to decide on whether to...
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Waste disposal rules relaxed
Retailers and suppliers are likely to be spared millions of pounds in extra waste disposal costs under the Animal By-Product Regulations.The British Retail Consortium is set to get the go-ahead from Defra and Brussels to publish a list of foods...
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Industry sees red over whitewash
The OFT’s conclusion of its probe into the code of practice has left suppliers and independents frustrated. Rod Addy reportsLeaving aside the cries of ‘whitewash’ levelled against the OFT from some quarters, manufacturers and...
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OFT urged to act on review
Convenience store retailers have urged the Office of Fair Trading to move on the findings of the watchdog’s own research into anti-competitive behaviour and instigate a market review.The OFT report found that one-third of SMEs in the retail and...
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C-sector: don’t scrap Sunday trading rules
The convenience retail sector is up in arms over calls for Sunday trading rules for large stores to be scrapped.Tesco and Asda both support the proposed relaxation of rules, which could end the limited six-hour Sunday opening times for stores...
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11th hour plea for evidence
Suppliers and independent retailers have launched a last ditch attempt to uncover the evidence needed to prove growing supermarket power is damaging competition and limiting consumer choice.With the OFT’s May 31 deadline for the submission of...
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It’s hands off... or is it?
Tesco has granted the independent c-store sector a buyout reprieve – by appearing to rule out more acquisitions.Britain’s biggest retailer, which had previously shaken the industry with a series of acquisitions including 45 Adminstore outlets...
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Rates rise shock for business
This week’s rise in business rates has been a postcode lottery for convenience stores, with some reporting rises of up to 80%.Roger Higgins, MD of RNS Holdings,which has 14 stores in the south and south west, said one outlet in Portsmouth had...