The pilot, organised by the Wine & Spirit Trade Association and involving 17 drinks shops, police and Trading Standards officers in St Neot’s, has been running since September . Its aim has been to encourage closer communication and sharing of best practice between the parties . If the scheme is considered successful at review in January it could be rolled out to the county and…

Convenience retailer Smile Stores has adopted a Challenge 30 policy at its shops in Bath – and reported a 100 per cent test purchase pass rate as a result. The group’s operations executive Nick Lloyd said problems with under-age drinks sales had prompted it to make the move in its Bath shops and introduce Challenge 25 at its other stores in April. He said: “It…

A Lincolnshire Costcutter has overturned a six-week ban on selling alcohol after implementing a host of responsible retailing measures. In February, the supermarket in Heighington was told its licence would be put up for review following three failed test purchases. Costcutter immediately sought legal advice and appointed a new designated premises supervisor, adopted a Challenge 21 policy and trained its staff in how to avoid…

to under-18s during the current test purchasing operation is of great concern. Although breaches of the licensing law are indeed criminal offences, being contrary to a statute, there are numerous other offences which do not result in the perpetrators being “treated like criminals”. Fingerprinting is a humiliating experience and for some could be traumatic in the extreme, particularly if the error was due to inadvertence…

? With supermarkets vying to challenge older-looking people trying to buy drinks and the government threatening to extend its anti-alcohol campaigning into the homes of middle-aged, middle-class people , responsible drinks retailing couldn’t be more important. This week we have seen 10 Tesco Express stores in Doncaster trial a policy to challenge anyone who looks under 30 for ID, putting it five years ahead of…

re is both bad news and good news for the off-licensed sector – because of the universal nature of the new-style licences you are now subject to form-filling and legal requirements that you may have avoided for many years, plus a set of questions most of which are irrelevant to your operation. But on the plus side there are possible business advantages in the new…

to consume their purchases on or near the store or shop. Under the new system, all licensed activities, whether for sales on or off the premises, are covered by the same licence, but are tailored to the specific nature of the premises by means of operating conditions. Once these conditions are agreed, you must only operate the premises in accordance with them, and breach of…