It is five years since the Scottish Retail Consortium first submitted a detailed proposal to Ministers in favour of the development of a Scottish retail strategy.
The rationale was simple. Profound structural changes under way in retailing were being made more challenging by two aspects of public policy. In part this was due to the spiralling cost of doing business, something which has been partly offset since through changes to business rates. The second element was the myriad and often competing range of regulatory interventions that retailers faced, from the environment to grocery, with no coherency and often little collaboration. We argued for a holistic approach to managing all of this.
Well, it has taken a bit of time and in fairness a global pandemic got in the way, however last week Scottish Ministers published their first-ever retail strategy.
For a government document it is eminently readable. It rightly praises the industry and those who work in it for the tremendous fortitude and resilience they have shown to come through the tribulations of the past few years.
It recognises the significant contribution retailers make to our society and outlines a shared approach from government and business to sustainably grow a profitable and thriving industry. A more coherent and collaborative approach to nurturing the growth of the industry should help it flourish and fulfil its potential over the decade ahead. This should be good news for retailers and the millions of customers they serve, as well as for jobs, our retail destinations, suppliers and the broader economic ecosystem that retail touches.
Retail is Scotland’s largest private sector employer, a powerhouse sector with a presence in every community. However, for many the industry has at times over the past decade felt a little bit like Cinderella, unloved and misunderstood by government. This strategy should go some way to addressing that and comes on top of the strong engagement in recent times from Scottish and UK Ministers.
Retail, perhaps uniquely, has a broad range of touch points with public policy, everything from personal tax to food waste, building standards, regeneration and skills. As such, buy-in from across the whole of government will be crucial to the strategy’s success.
An industry leadership group is to be established to oversee implementation of the strategy. Getting its composition right will be critical and it should largely be drawn from the sector.
The plan to encourage all retailers to embark on the journey towards net zero is surely right. Thankfully progress is already under way. Eighty leading retailers have already signed up to SRC’s “Net Zero by 2040 roadmap”. More need to drive change in their own businesses but also with suppliers and customers. The plan must dovetail with and capitalise on the existing support on offer.
The government’s aim to develop a fair work accord for the sector might prove a little trickier. Retailers know how important it is to attract and retain good staff, especially at this time with staffing issues in parts of the supply chain. They share the fair work aspiration and are already doing many of the things talked about in the paper. Indeed, retail is ranked fifth amongst 18 sectors in meeting the expectations of the government’s business pledge. Ultimately though enhanced pay has to go hand in hand with growth, productivity improvements and affordability. That is made all the harder at a time when employers’ national insurance contributions are being hiked.
The strategy isn’t perfect and it won’t be a panacea for all of the industry’s worries. It contained nothing to reduce business rates nor stem the burgeoning range of regulatory costs. Nor did it include any early action to entice shoppers back to our city centres which have been clobbered by the pandemic.
However, the strategy is undoubtedly a basis for closer collaboration and improved forward planning. That’s helpful as the industry reinvents itself for the future and plays its part in economic recovery. Our lived experience over recent years suggests issues frequently emerge from left field to challenge the retail sector, so that dialogue and close working between business and government will be critical.
David Lonsdale is director of the Scottish Retail Consortium
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