Wes Streeting MP Meets the Fed in East London

A senior official of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) met with the Rt Hon West Streeting MP in his Ilford North constituency in early May to discuss some of the opportunities and challenges facing small shops.

National Trustee, Nilesh Patel, spoke about his many years of experience serving Ilford residents and the range of goods and services he provides at his business, Nils Convenience, on New North Road, in Ilford.

However, he spoke about the challenge caused by occasional theft. The meeting happened just a few days after the Crime and Policing Bill became law. This is something which the Fed has strongly supported, particularly its measures to control retail crime including a new standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker and the removal of a previous legal clause which had meant thefts below £200 in value were treated as a summary only offence by the courts.

Mr Patel also spoke about the work the Fed has done to promote the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for recycling which will start in October 2027, with shoppers having to pay a returnable 20p deposit per plastic or metal bottle or can in order to encourage them to recycle.

Mr Patel said: “I would like to thank Wes Streeting for his time visiting my business and talking about the various issues facing small retailers at this time – particularly given his busy schedule as my local MP and his high profile nationally. It was good to discuss some of the occasional issues with theft as well as feedback on business rates. I also explained how important DRS will be after it is launched next year and what the Fed is doing to boost awareness of it.”