The gender balance of convenience store owners is more equal in Scotland than those in the UK, according to a new report by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation.

The Local Shop Report 2023, carried out by Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF) and ACS, revealed that of those that own and run convenience stores in Scotland, 56% are male and 44% are female.

Meanwhile, the ACS’ Local Shops Report 2023 found that in the UK 61% males and 39% females make up convenience store owners.

In addition, the convenience sector in Scotland is more balanced across age groups, with 18% of store owners being aged 30 and under, 24% aged 31-40, 25% aged 41-50, 23% aged 51-60 and 11% aged 60+.

In the UK generally, majority of convenience store owners are aged 30 and under (27%), with the proportion decreasing as the age groups increase. Only 18% are aged 51-60, compared with Scotland’s 23%, and 10% of store owners are aged 60+.

Of the 5,171 convenience stores in Scotland, 70% are run by independent retailers, which matches the wider statistics of the UK. In Scotland, 39% of these include unaffliated forecourts, and 31% are symbol group independents.

Of the £62 million invested in the Scottish convenience sector over the last year, the most popular category for funding was refrigeration (58%), followed by shelving (38%), store signage (36%), in-store lighting (35%) and technology (31%).

The main source of investment was found to be funded by ‘own reserves’ (63%), 17% funded by a symbol group, and 12% provided by suppliers. Scottish stores are more likely to source investment from their own reserves – across the UK, 54% of shop owners find funding from this source.

In terms of services offered by Scotland’s convenience sector, shops are more likely to offer a free-to-use cash machine (+7%), parcel collection point (+7%) and Post Office (+5%) than in the UK.

Yet, the country’s sector falls behind in offering click and collect services (-11%), local grocery delivery (-7%) and a food bank collection (-7%).

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