7:00pm Monday 12th January 2009
By Steven Smith
A NEWSAGENT in Wareham has launched a campaign to save his shop in the wake of tightening government legislation.
Mark Howlett, who runs Farwells in North Street, says banning displays of tobacco will be “the last straw” for retailers like him.
Mr Howlett, who is also chairman of Wareham Chamber of Trade, said: “Local shops like ours are at the sharp end of this credit crunch and being forced to hide our tobacco out of sight will be the last straw for many.
“It would cost us thousands just to refurbish the shop.
“For the average small shop, tobacco sales represent around a third of turnover and anything that restricts our ability to sell tobacco is a threat to our livelihood.”
The campaign by the Tobacco Retailers’ Alliance aims to highlight the effect that the display ban would have on retailers and is urging government to address youth smoking in other ways.
Westminster announced in December that the display of tobacco products would be banned by 2013 in a bid to stop young people in particular from starting the killer habit.
The alliance says statistics from the Centre for Economic and Business Research show the ban could cause 2,600 shops to close across the UK.
Mr Howlett added: “Tobacco is a legal product and retailers have a right to display it openly. It is very difficult to sell something that your customers can’t see.
“The government rakes in millions of pounds each year in tax revenue from tobacco so they won’t ban it, yet they are prepared to put this burden on small businesses just for selling it.
“There are more effective ways to tackle underage smoking which won’t jeopardise small shops.”
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