The Association of Corner shops (ACS) is warning that many of its members face being forced to close due to rising costs
ACS has written to the Chancellor, calling on the government to take emergency action to deal with the spiralling cost of energy which will cost convenience stores at least £2.5bn this year.
For an average small convenience store at around 1,000sq ft, energy costs have skyrocketed to over £45,000 a year, more than doubling for many retailers that have renewed their contracts in recent months. For larger stores around 3000 sq ft, these costs can be in excess of £100,000 a year.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “The Government needs to understand that this is an emergency. Thousands of convenience stores will be forced to make extremely difficult decisions in the face of tens of thousands of pounds of additional energy costs in the coming months, which at best will include cancelled investments, reduced staff hours and increased prices in stores, pushing up inflation even further. For some however, the cost of energy will make the business unviable, and so they will be forced to close unless action is taken to provide meaningful support.”
