In 1999 this led to a separation from CAT, and Lekha Klouda, who had been running the group for CAT, moved to become the first director of the Association of Charity Shops (ACS).
ACS’s first offices were donated by Nicholas Walter of the Rationalist Press Association - a couple of rooms off Upper Street in London’s Islington, swiftly moving to new offices on Shoreditch High Street. The first memorandum and articles of association were drawn up pro bono by Oxfam’s legal advisor Joss Saunders, and at the first AGM Colin Sandford was elected chair. One of the first services delivered to members was the quarterly market analysis of sector performance - continuing today in an almost unchanged format.
ACS became established as the leading voice of the sector. The first conference, held in 2000 at Church House in Westminster, attracted 200 delegates, and became a successful annual affair with a trade exhibition attached. 2000 also saw the first website, the first special interest group and the first corporate members. Subsequent years saw additional member services, the website members’ area, more interest groups, lobbying, advocacy and the Charity Retail Awards.
In 2004 ACS, by then with five staff and a much bigger membership, moved to share premises with the Association of Charitable Foundations in Bloomsbury, central London. The following years saw a gradual increase in the profile of ACS within government and the appointment of the first Head of Policy in 2007.