FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND – The Association of Convenience Stores
recently revealed that convenience store owners in England are sacrificing
their own wages to keep their stores open and pay staff.
According to the Voice of Local Shops Survey, 55% of shop
owners said they believe that they earn less than the minimum wage from their
business (roughly $9.75 U.S.), while more than two-thirds (69%) of independent
retailers believe they earn less per hour than the living wage (approximately
$11.72 U.S. per hour).
Meanwhile, the ACS Local Shop Report noted that shop owners
are struggling to keep their stores afloat, with 60% working more than 50 hours
a week, and 31% taking less than 10 days of vacation per year.
“We already know that
retailers are some of the hardest working professionals in the UK, but we
didn’t know the shocking extent to which their budgets are squeezed to make
ends meet,” said ACS CEO James Lowman. “Rising business rate bills,
energy costs and increasing competition from small format supermarkets are all
contributing factors to the figures that we have published today.”