LINDA Sood, the newly-elected president of the NFRN, turned the spotlight on retail crime in her first presidential speech at the trade group’s annual conference, calling on government and police to step up their efforts.
Sood said that as president of the NFRN, she would build on the work of her predecessors Ray Monelle and Ralph Patel by continuing to push for greater awareness of the issue.
“I promise our efforts to bring greater attention to the impact that retail crime has on independent retailers everywhere, and the need for greater police and government action, will continue to be a priority,” she said.
The NFRN president, who owns a Premier convenience store in Portsmouth, told conference attendees that she speaks from experience, as a long-term employee she had viewed as “completely trustworthy” was recently jailed for theft.
Sood noted that while the support she received from local police was “second to none”, this is not the case for many members.
“An NFRN survey has shown that all too often retailers will not report crimes because they do not believe they will get the response they require. I therefore intend to continue the good work that Ray and Ralph before him have done to make sure that tackling retail crime is given the attention, energy and priority it deserves.”
