Embedded in the DNA of many newsagents and the newsagency channel more widely is a belief in and reliance on regulation. Our channel was founded in regulation, it was there in the beginning and exists today in various forms.
Given this history, it is natural for newsagents to cling to regulation with comfort and resist moves of genuine open competition.
Plenty of products we sell today are sold with regulation or at least some aspects of regulation: lottery products, postage products, newspapers, magazines, some gift lines.
Some newsagent suppliers do not help. They want deregulation when it suits them to go into other outlets but then impose regulation over parts of their operation with newsagents which can make the newsagent offer less competitive than the offer of a competitor. A good example is in magazine distribution. While it has been deregulated, newsagents are not afforded the same controls and business building levers of their competitors. It is like being half pregnant.
For our channel to have a bright future we need to completely shake off the shackles of regulation. We need the freedom of a genuinely open market. We need this from suppliers and from ourselves. However, it is not something which some can act on while others in the channel do not. No, this is a move which needs to be carefully negotiated and navigated for and by all.
Newsagents need the freedom to operate all the commercial levers available to any business. This will help smart newsagents grow. It will increase competition within the channel and this is vital as we navigate through this period of considerable disruption.
One of the reasons we are seeing more newsagencies close than ever before is that we have allowed the channel to be protected at its weakest points for too long.
Some will say that removing regulation will devalue our businesses. This could happen if valuations are not based on the real profits generated by a business.
If we don’t remove the shackles of regulation, around magazine and newspaper supply, the sale of lottery tickets and some gift lines, we will see sub standard operators protected and the channel held back as a result. I would much prefer to see a smaller stronger channel than the alternative.
Let the debate begin.