The Government was showcasing the best of British retailing today in front of a global audience, timed alongside the Olympics.

You couldn’t move for retail luminaries at the Global Business Summit on Retail, Food and Drink today.

Held at the magnificent Lancaster House, the great and good of retail were rubbing shoulders with bosses of Coca Cola and Kraft Foods as well as secretary of state for business Vince Cable.

Ian Cheshire, Alex Gourlay, Alan Giles, Richard Gillies, Stefano Pessina, Nick Robertson and David North were among those hobnobbing in the coffee break in the resplendent garden of Lancaster House.

It was refreshing to see those in the corridors of power put retail on the main stage, particularly in such a stately setting and timed to coincide with the Olympics.

Let’s hope the buzz and excitement the Games has created rubs off on UK business and retail in particular.