How might the alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) impact upon local off-sales shops and the communities which they serve?

This paper aims to assess the likely impact of the Scottish Government’s proposed alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) policy on community off-sales outlets (convenience stores or corner shops), and, in turn, on the local people who purchase drinks at such premises. This research adds to our knowledge by linking sales of alcohol products which will be affected by MUP (e.g. at the proposed 50ppu) to the types of communities where these are the drinks of choice. A survey of independent community off-sales operating within the city of Glasgow, Scotland (n = 271) was conducted. This returned 144 completed questionnaires. These enquired about each shop’s customer-base, best-selling alcohol products, and asked participating shopkeepers for their views on MUP. Responses were measured against current alcohol product prices (i.e. whether affected by MUP) and local levels of socio-economic deprivation.