Earlier this month, Suella visited the Spar store on Arundel Drive in Fareham to meet with the store’s manager and Martin Sanger, Spar Senior Area Manager. During the visit Suella was also accompanied by the Mayor and Mayoress of Fareham, Cllr Pamela Bryant and Cllr Louise Clubley. Thanks to the organisation of the visit by the Association of Convenience Stores, Suella was able to gain a unique insight into the current issues facing local retail workers, as well as the immense benefit they provide for our local communities.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) is a campaign group comprised of 33,500 local shops that prides itself on being “the voice of local shops”. Due to ACS’s ardent campaigning, local convenience stores have been given a platform to raise their issues. One way in which ACS does this is by highlighting the great value local convenience stores add to society – this can be seen in their 2021 Local Shop Report. In 2021 there were over 47,000 convenience stores operating in the UK that totalled upwards of £43.2bn in sales and they collectively supported over 392,000 jobs in the UK.
In acknowledgement of the importance convenience stores provide through the creation of jobs and provision of essential items, Suella was grateful for the opportunity to learn about the issues affecting stores like the Spar store in Fareham. Suella was pleased to listen to the shop’s workers to learn more about the issues they are facing. At the end of the visit Suella was pleased to ensure them that the Government will continue to support and listen to the many voices of the invaluable local shops and retail workers within them that so many of us rely on.
Commenting Suella said:
“It was fantastic opportunity to meet with the dedicated team at the Spar store in Fareham. Many thanks to ACS for organising this visit, it is always a pleasure meeting with local businesses and to understand their issues. I look forward to working together in the future to continue with our support for retail workers. Local shops are relied upon by many residents in Fareham, I am always eager to support shops like this and the workers within them.”
