Community Shops 2014: A Better Form of Business

This report aims to give an overview of the development of the community shop sector in the UK and of the health and wealth of the sector today. Specifically, the report provides numerical data about the range of legal and management structures of these shops; a summary of the scope of products and services they offer; an analysis of their profitability and contribution to the local economy; and a background of the people who make community shops work.

The report is based on information provided by 258 out of the 309 community shops trading in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, supplemented with existing data supplied by the remaining 51 shops the previous year. This information was collected by Plunkett Foundation staff in February 2014 via detailed telephone interviews.