Retail has grown to giant proportions

So said James May, first director-general of the British Retail Consortium, as the organisation came together in its present form in 1992. May recognised then, as members do today, that when we speak with one strong voice, we have the ear of government, whether in London, Edinburgh or Brussels.

The giant is even bigger now. It’s created half a million jobs since 1995 and now employs 11 per cent of the UK workforce. Retailers paid about£16.5 billion in business taxes in the last financial year alone and the political pygmy has grown up too.

But, as I take responsibility as chief champion of British retailing, two main aims are to push harder for an environment that helps retail thrive and to win recognition for the huge contribution retailers make to the nation’s social and economic wellbeing.

Yes, retailers compete furiously – that’s what makes our business so exciting – but more concerns unite than divide us. An organisation spotting unintended consequences and influencing legislation on behalf of all retailers makes business sense. No retailer – large or small, food or non-food, store-based or online – should be outside the BRC.

Take the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, for example, which the BRC is briefing members of the House of Lords on at the moment.

In last year’s Queen’s Speech, we were told the Bill aims to “reduce unnecessary burdens” placed on business by local authority regulations. Leaving aside the idea that the way to lighten the regulatory load is to pass another law, this bill will hand local authorities powers to slap on countless parking ticket-style fines. It could have let them keep the money.

Does anyone believe they wouldn’t have trading standards and environmental health officers out clocking up the numbers on easy targets? Raising revenue with on-the-spot fines for the odd cracked tile would always be more appealing than pinning down the heavy-duty rogue trader.

The good news is that we have secured safeguards, in particular a recommendation that enforcers won’t get to keep the fines income.

Then there’s the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act. Quite rightly designed to protect children and vulnerable adults, its checking criminal records rules are being consulted on.

I’m sure the Government never meant this to impact on retailers. In fact, it has responded favourably to our comments so far, but, as drafted, it could mean countless shop staff who are responsible for under-16s on work placements or adults with mental health difficulties having to undergo Criminal Records Bureau checks. The result? Fewer work opportunities for two groups of people the Government is urging retailers to engage with.

I want politicians to recognise how much retailers matter and the impact ill-considered regulation can have. I’m proud of what retail is delivering on – everything from jobs, training and healthy eating to low inflation, regeneration and the environment. By any standards, it’s a giant story to tell.