Retail Industry Leadership Group meeting minutes: November 2024

Attendees and apologies

ILG members attending 

• Polly Jones, Head of Corporate Affairs for Scotland, Asda and Industry ILG Co-Chair (PJ)
• David Lonsdale, Director, Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) (DL)
• Tony McElroy, Head of Communications and Devolved Government Relations, Tesco
• Andrew McRae, Policy Chair - Federation of Small Business (FSB)
• Lucy Brown, Central Operations Director, John Lewis Partnership
• Debbie Harding, Chief corporate Office (Dobbies) Chair of SRC
• Laura Mitchell, Head of Retail, Greggs
• Sonya Harper, Central Operations Director - CJ Lang and Son
• Karen Stewart, Centre Manager, Livingston Designer Outlet

Guests

• Luke McGarty, Head of Policy & Public Affairs, Scottish Grocer’s Federation 

Apologies

• Kyron Keogh, Co-founder and Managing Director, ROX - Diamonds and Thrills
• Pete Cheema, Chief Executive, Scottish Grocers Federation
• Reuben Chesters, Project Manager, Locavore
• Colin Smith, Chief Executive, Scottish Wholesale Association

Scottish Government

• Tom Arthur, Minister for Employment and Investment
• Gary Cox, Deputy Director, Business Strategy, Scottish Government
• Allan Clifford, Retail Team Leader, Scottish Government
• Ross Sayers, Retail Policy Officer, Scottish Government

Secretariat

• Erin Stewart, Retail Policy Officer, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Items and Actions

Item 1: Welcome and opening remarks

• industry Co-Chairs Polly Jones (PJ), and Mr Tom Arthur (TA), welcomed attendees to the 8th meeting of the Retail Industry Leadership Group (ILG)
• Mr Arthur is keen to understand the issues retailers face and suggested that visits outwith the regular Retail ILG meetings may be a useful tool in understanding the challenges faced. If feasible, these could take place outwith the central belt

Item 2: Refreshing the Group’s Terms of Reference (ToR)

• PJ encouraged members to propose changes to the draft ToR which had been circulated to the group 
• members broadly content with the changes to the ToR and particularly the Vision
• Andrew MacRae suggested that the ToR be changed slightly to incorporate small independent shops, and that perhaps ‘operate’ could be added to the Vision, to go alongside ‘growing’ a business
• There was a general consensus that the remit of the ToR can be changed in a way that demonstrates it applies to all businesses in Scotland
• PJ informed members that a redraft would be circulated in due course

Item 3: Fair Work action

• an update was given on how the Fair Work Working Group (FWWG) will be taken forward by the Retail ILG 
• PJ suggested that individual meetings would be organised with members – with the support of secretariat – to gather information on FW. Members should suggest who is best placed to speak on FW in their organisations
• it was noted that legislation supporting the Fair Work Agenda has been implemented since the FWWG was introduced and the Scottish Government continues to work towards the values of the Fair Work agenda
• David Lonsdale (DL) queried a UK Government rep attending future meetings 
• Lucy Brown raised the point that there is a number of free creative learning development opportunities and suggested the document could be called 'Growing Fair Work in Retail'
• Tony McElroy informed of the many diverse jobs/skills there are within the retail sector - DL pointed out that visits out with the ILG may be a beneficial way to learn about these

Item 4: Hot topics

• PJ welcomed members to give their perspective on recent issues they have faced in the retail sector 
• there was a general concern over retail crime. Mr Arthur stated that he appreciates the issue is complex and offered to have a separate meeting to address the issue 
• business rates were frequently mentioned as a concern; retailers are concerned on the affect this will have on job loss and the attractiveness of Scotland as a place to invest 
• cumulative burden is also a common theme - PJ made a suggestion that this can be explored further in a future meeting 
• Mr Arthur wants to ensure that members of the ILG feedback work being done in other groups (New Deal for Business Group, Fair Work Oversight Group etc) as these have been a shared concern of members

Item 5: AOB

Polly noted that February was likely for next meeting and members broadly content. Noted that secretariat will issue a Save the Date in due course

Action Points

• Secretariat to consider ILG visits outwith regular meetings and also outwith central belt if logistics allow. Members would welcome visits to non-traditional Retail jobs/roles
• Polly to share amended Terms of Reference with members for approval
• Polly, with support from Secretariat, to organise Fair Work meetings with member organisations and their relevant Fair Work lead – to help populate Fair Work Document
• future agenda(s) to include Retail Crime, cumulative burden, work of other related SG groups
• Secretariat to issue Save the Date for next meeting – likely February 2025