About Us

Who we are
The Rural Shops Alliance is a national trade association working to support the owners of independent rural shops. We represent over 7,000 such businesses in England.

What we do
The objectives of the RSA are:
....To act as the national voice for rural retailers
....To campaign on their behalf
....To help them to become more competitive, to the benefit of the communities that they serve.

How we do it

Listening to shopkeepers
The retail industry is always changing and so it is very important that we keep closely in touch with the concerns and issues of the people we represent. Our consultants spend a lot of time out in shops, advising but also listening. In addition, we have a Steering Group, made up of shopkeepers, that meets regularly to provide their input to our work. We also regularly consult our Sounding Board of retailers, who can provide immediate feedback on issues as soon as they emerge.

Campaigning
It is crucial to our work that our views are communicated in the right places. We have good contacts in most counties, where we work with county councils, rural community councils or other associate members to the benefit of their rural shopkeepers and communities.

We are also active lobbying parliament and government departments to keep the interests of our shopkeepers to the fore when new legislation or programmes are being planned.

Support
We provide practical help to shopkeepers to improve their businesses in a variety of ways. Our web site and our journal, Rural Retailer, provide up-to-date guidance on what is happening in our industry and advice on issues such as displays, ranging and legislation. In some parts of the country, we provide training and support for rural retailers, often with the support of our blue chip FMCG Partners.