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The retail industry is a “Great British success story, which has survived and thrived despite facing multiple challenges over the last few years,” according to a speech being delivered to representatives from across the industry today.
Director General of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Helen Dickinson is due to tell more than 300 delegates at today’s BRC Retail Symposium that the sector has “held its nerve” during the recession and has an “impressive track record” for innovation, competition and flexible career opportunities.
“At the very least, we’ve survived a prolonged economic downturn,” she is expected to say. “We’ve continued to deliver quality products at reasonable prices to customers who’ve had less money in their pockets. We’ve kept going through some extraordinary unseasonable weather. And we’ve endured the turmoil and disruption of events like the horsemeat crisis – and proved our food supply chains can be trusted, when dire expectations about horsemeat were confounded.
“But we’ve done much more than simply survive. We’ve kept our eye very firmly on the future. British retail is embracing the game-changing digital revolution faster than anywhere else in the world.
“We are growing our business and our reputation internationally thanks to Brand Britain, thanks to the very high quality of our products and our excellent customer services… and thanks also to our world leading expertise in adopting digital as a way of doing business.”
The BRC Retail Symposium is an annual one-day conference being held in London which brings together senior figures from across the retail sector to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the industry. The event opens and closes with keynote addresses from Sainsbury’s ceo Justin King on the theme of ‘Building Trust in Turbulent Times’ and Tesco ceo Philip Clarke discussing ‘Tomorrow’s Retail World’ respectively. Other retailers taking part include Blue Inc., Mothercare, Harrods and Alliance Boots.
