Future of Retail APPG

Insightful session with Retail Minister @kevinhollinrake covering a range of policy areas from planning, energy and technology policy, to the retention and revocation of EU laws. For further information and if you'd like to get involved with the APPG, contact the secretariat.

Tomorrow we are delighted to be hosting a Q&A with the Minister responsible for the retail industry, @kevinhollinrake, Chaired by APPG Co-Chair @Matt_VickersMP. For final RSVPs to the session, please contact the secretariat (email below).

As Chair of the Retail APPG, I got the opportunity to visit Dumfries & look at how they are using community ownership of public assets to revive their high street. Always fantastic to see examples of how communities and councils can work together to breathe life into their area.

Our Chair @Matt_VickersMP closes by asking @scullyp about the future of business rates and whether leisure, retail and hospitality could continue to be treated differently.

Helen Barker from @Hermesparcels (Evri) talks about their commitment to a right to request flexible working and asks @scullyp whether there is a timetable for guidance on employment status to support companies?

Gordon Balmer from the Petrol Retailers Association asks about the impact of the roll out of ULEZ across the UK on regenerating high streets.

Charlie White from @JohnLewisRetail talks about equalising maternity and paternity leave and asks if we will see the employment bill in the Queen's speech? @scullyp says the government will be looking to deliver in this area but he can't say what's going to be in Queen's speech.

Thomas Upchurch from @Shopify says that there's a difference between different online platforms.He asks @scullyp how much are government aware of the nuances between different online retail businesses and how can we communicate that better to government?

Amanda Raven from @BritishLandPLC has asked @scullyp about the future of business rates. And Michael Weedon from @fsb_policy asks about lowering the threshold of employees for the Help to Grow scheme.

Our Chair @Matt_VickersMP asks @scullyp about the 'Help to Grow' programme and whether it has potential to change and adapt going forward in response to business feedback.

In his introduction @scullyp touches on government support initiatives, the continuing cost pressures on retailers and work in the sector towards a Net Zero future.

The Minister @scullyp has started the meeting today by thanking the retail sector for everything they've been doing, including some great work supporting the people of Ukraine.

Tomorrow we are delighted to be hosting a Q&A with the Minister responsible for the retail industry, @scullyp, Chaired by APPG Co-Chair @Matt_VickersMP. For final RSVPs to the session, please contact the secretariat (email below).

Our Co-Chair @LizTwistMP closes the meeting and thanked our speakers, saying she hopes it has started some important conversations around #sustainability and #netzero

Our speaker @FionaGooch from @traidcraftexch talks about the importance of understanding retail supply chains, including where emissions get off-shored, in order to truly tackle sustainability through the system.

Tom Byrne from @ASOS talked through some of the challenges they need to overcome to reach #netzerocarbon in the future.

Rosie Howells from @boohoo talked through their consumer research around sustainability. She gave some interesting insights into how sustainable products can be perceived by consumers and how that helps inform their sustainability goals.

Our first speaker is Nancy Hobhouse from @Hermesparcels talking about the importance of sustainability to Hermes and their plans to reach #NetZero

Our newly reappointed Co-Chair Liz Twist has opened the meeting stressing the importance of sustainability and introducing our first speaker from @Hermesparcels

Delighted to confirm a superb line-up of speakers at the next session of the Future of Retail APPG. This session will explore sustainability in the retail industry, outcomes from COP26 and government policy on the retail industry’s sustainability objectives. RSVP details included