APRIL TRADE NEWS Retailers seeing shifting consumer behaviour More empty shops in Edinburgh's Old Town Culture capital status boosting Liverpool retail Retailers 'need more help from government' Bath retailers to target 'affluent women' Birmingham Wholesale Markets to move Nottingham shops banned from using A-boards Trader convicted for selling fake goods from trusted wholesaler OFT warned on newspaper distribution rules Scottish retail sales picking up Ebay fraudster ordered to repay £100,000 Welsh urged to cut down on single use carriers Wholesalers looking for insight from retailers Rural retail initiative to help traders in N.Ireland Hampshire traders fearful of supermarket plans Retail sales surge during sunny April Wholesalers affected by late payments Online retailers 'must convince shoppers of internet benefits' Strongest monthly UK footfall rise in five years Retailers urged to turn to eBay to-sell stock Retailers fight plans for Watford Tesco Express Local retail opinions mixed in Leicester More than one British newsagent closing a day European visitors to The Wholesaler please click here Trade News Archive 2009  January   February   March   April   May Subscribe to our newsletter   Go to The Wholesaler UK Directory 21st May 2009 OFT warned on newspaper distribution rules The Association of News Retailing (ANR) has joined with the National Federation of Retail Newsagents to demand a full market investigation into the practices of newspaper and magazine wholesalers. Responding to the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) consultation on the matter, the retail groups suggested that self-regulation by suppliers without the threat of legal sanctions will leave retailers at a significant disadvantage. Last month, the government ruled that wholesale suppliers will no longer be legally obliged to provide stores and newsagents with stock that they have ordered. Furthermore, contract changes between publishers and wholesalers laid the groundwork for a de-facto duopoly in terms of newspaper and magazine supply, further reducing the amount of competition in the market. Issuing a joint statement, the associations expressed concerns about the way in which the OFT has previously looked into the relationship between publishers, wholesalers and retailers. In April, ANR managing director John Lennon warned: "Without a statutory obligation to supply, wholesalers may be tempted to price 'hard to serve' retailers out of the market by increasing their carriage charges to unacceptable levels." (c) 2009 Comment on this news story   Trade News Archive 2008  December   November   October   September August   July   June   May   April   March   February   January