Growing concerns about the low margins being offered to retailers operating terminals such as PayPoint and PayZone were discussed this week at a meeting attended by leading figures from the independent sector.
Those at the meeting included representatives from Botterills, Costcutter, Londis, Nisa and Spar, plus owner operators, the Scottish Grocers' Federation and the National Federation of Retail Newsagents. The Grocer facilitated the meeting, which was held at its offices in Crawley.
A spokesman for the group said: "We want to secure a reasonable working margin for retailers."
The group ­ whose members operate most of the terminals now in use ­ are currently drawing up an action plan as they look at ways of opening a dialogue with the utility companies to allow a proper discussion of the margins issue.
Their meeting comes in the wake of mounting retailer anger about the low margins that they currently receive ­ which makes most terminals uneconomic to run.

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