A shop is the classic "moderate risk" premises — and that label is both true and a trap. True, because a typical retail unit does not carry the concentrated risk of a commercial kitchen or a hotel. A trap, because "moderate" makes it easy to assume the obligations are optional or trivial, and they are not. The moment the public can walk through your door, your duties around fire, escape, and lighting are real and enforceable.
Where to start
Start with the fire risk assessment, and pay particular attention to escape routes. Retail has a specific, recurring failure mode: stock. Boxes in corridors, deliveries left by fire exits, displays narrowing the route to the door. The assessment will flag it, but it is on you to keep it clear every day — and it is the single most common thing an inspector will pick up.
After that, emergency lighting, electrical safety, and portable appliance testing are the steady backbone. None of them are dramatic; all of them are the kind of thing that is fine for years and then matters enormously on the one day the power fails or a fault develops.
The honest position on cost
A shop is exactly the kind of business that gets cold-called with "full compliance package" offers. Some are fine. But you can only judge whether one is fair, complete, or padded if you already know what your premises actually needs. That is what this page — and the guides it links to — are for. Understand first, then buy.