The Fed attends SRC Board Meeting in Edinburgh

The Fed was represented by former National President, Mo Razzaq, at the Scottish Retail Consortium’s Board meeting in Edinburgh on Thursday 5^th March where they discussed key issues impacting the whole retail sector ahead of May’s Scottish election including retail crime, regulatory change, high taxes and the introduction next year of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for recycling.

The group – which also included representatives from the Scottish Grocery Federation, and other representatives of big retailers like ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Tesco and more – met with leading Scottish politicians including the Shadow Scottish Secretary of State, Andrew Bowie MP, Lord Offord, leader of Reform in Scotland and  Graham Simpson MSP also from Reform.

In the run up to the May Scottish election, the Fed has emphasised concerns about retail crime, cost of business and the need for the introduction of a cost-neutral Deposit Return Scheme for Recycling that gave retailers a fair handling fee in its manifesto published in January.

The Fed’s engagement work ahead of the May election has included work with the SRC, which is the sister organisation of the BRC focused on retail in Scotland. Last year, the Fed met with Andrew Bowie MP in Westminster when Mr. Razzaq was still National President and it was useful to receive his update on work across Scotland especially on behalf of small businesses like independent retailers.

Mr. Razzaq said: “It was an extremely positive meeting. Whilst the Fed remains a strong voice for small shops in Scotland, we appreciate the SRC convening these informative discussions and we remain keen to work with others to share the serious common challenges faced by all of retail at this time.”