Retail group makes case for independents
RETAILERS from the National Federation of Retail Newsagents were welcomed to Holyrood late last month for a parliamentary reception coinciding with the launch of the group’s 2018 Independent Retail Report for Scotland.
Proceedings were opened by Graeme Dey MSP, who praised the NFRN for its stance on DRS as well as its proactive approach in discouraging the sale of so-called legal highs as well as the trade group’s self imposed ban on the sale of energy drinks to children under the age of 16.
The event included an address from NFRN president Linda Sood, as well as NFRN Scotland district president Rory O’Brien – who made his own call for the Scottish Government to do more to support independent retailers.
These are the people that are growing the economy of Scotland and are truly important.
“Today is an opportunity for our MSPs here with the retailers, there’s a lot of husbands and wives here who run local community shops,” said O’Brien.
“We are the heartbeat of your constituency, it’s the right place to go if you want to know what’s going on and it’s important to us that you recognise that we are the pulse.
“We have retailers here who when they do well they go out and buy another shop, they employ local people, they’re not sending their profits down south or to Barbados.
“These are the people that are growing the economy of Scotland and are truly important.
“It’s not the big companies and the big corporations, it’s these men and women in this room.”
