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Press Release

Alcohol promotions ban bad for competition

13 May 2009

The Government is right to reject minimum alcohol pricing but giving local authorities power over promotions in individual stores could damage competition and cost customers more, warns the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Reacting to the Consultation on the new code of practice for alcohol retailers, published by the Home Office today (Wednesday), the BRC said allowing local authorities to single out particular stores for bulk promotion bans could impair grocery market competition.

The draft code calls for more information for customers but BRC members are already providing plenty of clear health information in-store and on labels.

The BRC welcomed the Prime Minister’s rejection of minimum pricing. In a speech yesterday (Tuesday) he said, “Bringing in a minimum price….would punish the majority of responsible drinkers.” But the BRC remains concerned that promotion bans will hit customers, saying there is no evidence linking these types of purchases with disorder.

British Retail Consortium Director General Stephen Robertson said: “The Government is right to reject minimum pricing. Using the force of law to push up shop prices would simply penalise the overwhelming majority of customers who consume alcohol perfectly responsibly, while doing nothing to tackle the minority who don’t.

“The proposed attack on shop promotions is a dangerous step. Allowing local authorities to single out individual stores and their customers for promotions bans would deny people access to value and could undermine local grocery-market competition. Multi-packs are bought as part of a customer’s regular weekly shop and responsibly consumed at home over a period. They are not bought by young people on a night out. There is no evidence that bulk sales are linked to disorder.

“Retailers are not fuelling disorder. They should not be burdened with pointless extra compliance costs. As always, that would be particularly onerous for small shops.

“Last year’s Home Office report by KPMG cleared retailers of bad practice and agreed with us that the way to make a real difference is by changing the culture around alcohol. Already retailers are voluntarily using on-pack unit labelling to give customers the information they need and ‘Challenge 25’ to eliminate under age sales.”



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British Retail Consortium

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