The Fed writes to Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney

The President of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) in Scotland, Uthayakumar Soundararajan, has written to congratulate John Swinney following the SNP’s success in last May’s election, offering to work with his Government to ensure the interests of small independent retailers are heard.

In his letter Mr Soundararajan said “this is a challenging time for the sector and our members due to retail crime, [and] high taxation…Now the election is complete, we would like to take the opportunity to discuss with you or your Government colleagues about how we support independent retail.”

However, his letter highlighted growing concern about the continued uncertainty caused by the potential price cap on certain supermarket products and the “distortionary” impact it could have on the wider sector, including small independent shops. The Fed is has been joined by a series of trade bodies across retail including the Scottish Retail Consortium the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, Food & Drink Federation Scotland and more.

The letter also spoke about the key challenges and opportunities likely to face small shops during the coming four-year term of the Holyrood Parliament. These were identified in its manifesto for the election which it originally published in January and focused on reducing theft, limiting cost increases for small shops and a smooth roll-out of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for recycling bottles and cans in Scotland and across the UK.

Mr Soundararajan pointed to the vast economic impact footprint of the Fed’s approximately 1,000 members across Scotland and the many thousand they employ. He also spoke of the significant social aspect of independent retail as they act as focal points of the communities they serve helping provide countless Scottish communities with a vital “sense of place.”

In its manifesto, the Fed has expressed its continued support for the Retail Crime Task Force in Scotland, who the Fed lobbied for and its renewal which was announced in the Scottish Government Budget in January. It also called for greater resourcing for local authority trading standards across Scotland.