Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland Blog

Word on the street

Photo - SRC Reception 2014-001

The new year brought a new role for WPCS Trustee David Londsdale. Here’s the in-depth interview he gave us on Scotland’s retail industry after three months at the helm of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

Congratulations on your new post David, how are you finding it?

I’ve been Director of the SRC since the start of January and am thoroughly enjoying it. The first few months have been pretty full on, and have involved many meetings with retailers to better understand the challenges and opportunities they face, but also how they would like to see the SRC develop over the next few years.

I imagine heading up the Scottish Retail Consortium is much more focussed than your previous role with CBI Scotland. Was that what attracted you to your new job?

I knew from my previous role that the SRC is a prestigious business advocacy group, with a serious commitment to advancing the best interests of the industry and the consumers that it serves. As such the opportunity to take on the leadership of the organisation was too good to let slip by. Scotland’s retail sector has a great story to tell and makes a big economic and social contribution to our society. The industry is Scotland’s largest private sector employer, providing 235,000 jobs. Few sectors have proved so resilient and dynamic, given the tough economic conditions of the past few years and the enormous structural change affecting the industry as demonstrated by the rapid rise of online shopping.

According to the media the economy is on the up, yet our chaplains in the shopping malls are hearing a different story. What’s your reading of the current situation for retail in Scotland?

The wider economy is gaining some momentum but a sustained upturn, one that most people would recognise and benefits from, is not yet assured. The SRC publishes a suite of data on total retail sales, footfall of shoppers, and vacant premises, and over the past year there has only been a decidedly modest uptick in overall sales. Part of the reason is that disposable incomes have yet to outstrip inflation. That said, the long term prospects will be good if the population continues to expand and if we can recapture the ability as a country to sustain rising living standards.

How can that be achieved?

A broader and more sustainable economic recovery needs to be encouraged. Our members are keen to see the government continue to tackle the deficit in the public finances and ultimately start to pay down the ballooning national debt. This will mitigate against the need for future tax rises on individuals or firms which could hold back the recovery. We also want to see an overhaul of the business rates system, as that would give retailers greater confidence to invest in store refurbishments or new stores, create more jobs, and help revive town centres.

High street versus internet: is click and collect the way to retain viable shop fronts?

Retailers of all shapes and sizes are giving more and more thought to multi-channel trading and how to offer their customers diverse, flexible and convenient ways to shop. While we’ve seen that online retail is becoming increasingly integral to the shopper journey, a physical store presence can open up new markets, give a retailer a foothold on the high street and offer customers the chance to look at products in-store before they buy.

How would you like to see WPCS’s relationship with the retail sector - both multiples and independents – developed?

The industry is the country’s largest private sector employer, and many of the leading firms in the sector are also very forward-thinking when it comes to staff well-being. So there should be plenty of opportunities for WPCS to deepen the relationship further and to showcase some of the excellent examples of existing partnership working.

And finally…why did you agree to become a Trustee of WPCS?

I’ve always subscribed to the view that there are few things in life more fulfilling or liberating that being a part of something or a cause that is bigger than oneself. Given the busy pace of life and work it is often hard to put that into practice, however the offer to be a part of WPCS came along at the right time and I am glad I got involved.

Growing chaplaincy
My week with WPCS

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