RETAILERS: KEEPING OUR SEATS AT THE TABLE
For those paying attention to the news, it’s been a big week! Such a big week, in fact, that our featured article is coming out a little later than usual.
Let’s round-up:
- The new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak jetted off to participate in the COP 27 Climate Summit in Egypt. World leaders are attempting to reach a consensus regarding a policy direction on energy production & consumption that will have an impact on all of us.
- The pound fell in value against the dollar again.
- The new cabinet lost another Minister, Gavin Williamson.
- A sitting member of Parliament is eating Kangaroo testicles in the Australian jungle.
One of these things is not like the other…
… but it all adds up to a week in the business and retail sector that has felt tumultuous, even to the point of absurdity. Honestly, as the news of TESCO raising their meal-deal prices because of the cost-of-living crisis broke at around the same time as that of Matt Hancock’s jungle adventure boogaloo; as a writer for trade press, I felt as though I might have slipped into some cartoonish parallel universe!
Somehow, this situation is the here and now, and oh so very real.
It would be easy for those of us in the retail sector to fall into the slough of despond – or at the very least into a state of apathy. It can be difficult at times to watch the world turn around us as we work in the retail sector. Each morning we turn on the lights and stock our shelves, as so many decisions that affect us are made for us… without us.
We’ve felt this recently haven’t we, with the introduction of controversial HFSS legislation. And as prime ministers and government actors seem to come and go faster than our customers can buy a Mars Bar, it might feel as though insult is being added to injury as a sitting lawmaker decides that he’d rather work with Ant and Dec instead of his constituents… perhaps some of which are reading this article right now.
I promise that this article isn’t being written to dishearten you, far from it! Rather, I hope to embolden you… if indeed you retailers reading this need it at all.
As we giggle, however ashamedly, at Matt Hancock on his Jungle Cruise, those attending the COP 27 summit are making decisions that will inevitably lead to a long-term change in energy use costs. They’re going up!
When the current wholesale price cap expires in April of 2023, businesses could face a price hike, upwards of 90p per Kw Hour. This is even before we add gas prices into the equation.
It is for this reason, I feel having spoken to so many of you, that our community of independent retailers must stand up for itself! This industry, the value of which is immeasurable to the lives of everyone, cannot allow itself to feel unseen anymore. We will need support, and we have to go and get it!
James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores has said as much…
“The case for supporting convenience stores is clear, we provide over 405,000 jobs at store level across the UK, we are the business type that has the most positive impact locally, and we provide an unparalleled range of products and services on people’s doorsteps. The closure of a convenience store in any community is an enormous loss, so we believe that our sector represents the best return on investment for a Government looking to provide targeted support.”
If the government don’t see us, then they likely won’t see as much value in helping us out. We have to shout loud enough to be heard in the Australian Jungle!
Fortunately, ACS wants to do something about it!
ACS is calling on retailers to write to their MPs to highlight the impact of rising energy costs on their businesses. Retailers should enter their postcode on the MP email generator here to get involved.
Our community is as tight-knit as it is irreplaceable. Retailers deserve to keep their seats at the table going forward and deserve the right to fight our corner. The retail community are a team, ready to band together to take on annoying customers, shoplifters and, if necessary, the world!