Pressure groups and associations have welcomed the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group's long-awaited report into the impact of the major grocery multiples on the high street by 2015.
Among a long list of recommendations, the group called for a retail regulator to monitor the growth of supermarkets, a revision of the two-market ruling, all retail mergers and acquisitions to be put on hold until the government has introduced proposals to secure the diversity of the retail sector, and a revision of the two-market ruling.
David Rae, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “The onus is now on the government and the competition authorities to listen to the report and to engage in the public debate on the future of the high street. Unless the government acts to bring about a fairer market, we fear that independent retailers will continue to struggle, and that many will close.”
Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth also welcomed the report. FOE supermarket campaigner Sandra Bell said: “This report goes a long way towards finding solutions to protect the many small shops which offer genuine choice, good value, a personal service and a lifeline for local communities.”
However, Kevin Hawkins, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said that he was disappointed by the report.
“The committee has not grasped the realities of modern retailing, nor have they understood all the burdens small retailers face with regulation. The committee is trying to turn the clock back and reverse some well established trends in consumer habits,” he said.
For full details of the report, see The Grocer this Saturday.
Among a long list of recommendations, the group called for a retail regulator to monitor the growth of supermarkets, a revision of the two-market ruling, all retail mergers and acquisitions to be put on hold until the government has introduced proposals to secure the diversity of the retail sector, and a revision of the two-market ruling.
David Rae, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “The onus is now on the government and the competition authorities to listen to the report and to engage in the public debate on the future of the high street. Unless the government acts to bring about a fairer market, we fear that independent retailers will continue to struggle, and that many will close.”
Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth also welcomed the report. FOE supermarket campaigner Sandra Bell said: “This report goes a long way towards finding solutions to protect the many small shops which offer genuine choice, good value, a personal service and a lifeline for local communities.”
However, Kevin Hawkins, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said that he was disappointed by the report.
“The committee has not grasped the realities of modern retailing, nor have they understood all the burdens small retailers face with regulation. The committee is trying to turn the clock back and reverse some well established trends in consumer habits,” he said.
For full details of the report, see The Grocer this Saturday.
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