After the Labour Party launched its General Election manifesto yesterday, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) highlighted the pledges that could affect the sector.
Measures that could impact convenience retailers included a replacement of the business rates system in England, changes to the remit of the Low Pay Commission and the National Living Wage, and the introduction of a separate offence for assaulting a shopworker.
The manifesto also includes a number of public health interventions, such as the introduction of a generational ban on tobacco products, further restrictions on the vaping category, and a ban on energy drinks for under-16s.
The ACS summarized the pledges relevant to the convenience sector:
Business taxation
- Cap corporation tax at 25% for the entire parliament
- Retain permanent full expensing for capital investment and the annual investment allowance for small business
- Replace business rates in England with a revenue-neutral system that levels the playing field between online and high streets
Communities
- Strengthen the Post Office network and support the development of new products, services and business models, such as banking hubs, that will help reinvigorate the high street
- Further devolution and a new statutory requirement for Local Growth Plans
- Full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030
Employment
- Remove the age bands for the National Living Wage
- Change the remit of the Low Pay Commission so that it accounts for the cost of living
Public health
- Introduce a generational ban on purchasing tobacco products
- Ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children
- Ban on advertising junk food to children
- Ban on selling high caffeine energy drinks to under 16s
Crime
- A new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, including the recruitment of thousands of new officers
- A new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers that will protect them from threats and violence.
Net Zero
- Restoring the phase-out date of 2030 for new ICE vehicles
NAM Implications:
- Labour has patently identified the vote-catchers…
- (and will hopefully add some tips on breath-holding?)
- Incidentally, no.1 on the list: Cap corporation tax at 25% for the entire parliament…
- …surely begs the question of ‘Why not something lower for convenience businesses on the brink?’
