The Welsh president of The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed), Mark Dudden, met with his new Labour party Senedd Member Shav Taj in Cardiff last week to discuss some of the continued opportunities and challenges facing small shops in Wales.
The meeting was the latest in a series of visits by politicians to Mark’s store, Albany Road Stationery and News, ahead of the May election, including with Taj’s predecessor as Labour MS for Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Jenny Rathbone, back in January.
Mark and Taj talked about the continued uncertainty over the adoption of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for recycling, following the new Welsh government’s decision not to appoint a deposit management organisation (DMO) to manage it in Wales and the continued apparent push to include glass in the scheme.
Mark explained the Fed has backed the DRS because of the beneficial environmental impact and because it could help boost footfall and bring shoppers into independent shops like his, but felt it was necessary it was properly aligned with the rest of the UK and was not over-engineered to enable it to move forward quickly.
The Fed’s work to encourage both the Cardiff and Westminster governments to tackle retail crime were also discussed, with Mark sharing examples of incidents of theft at his business. He advised that the Fed had identified the need for greater resourcing for local authority Trading Standards to tackle the rogue trade in tobacco and other goods on the high street in Wales and across the UK.
Cost pressures
Concerns about tax and commercial cost pressures facing small shops were also discussed, along with the need for business rates to be reformed to help lessen the impact.
While the Fed has recently written to the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, about his pledge to reform rates in Westminster, Mark explained the need for the Welsh government to act further to reduce costs further in Cardiff, as it is a devolved responsibility.
Mark said: “This was a really very positive meeting and I’d like to thank Shav and her team for her interest. We agreed that we would work together in the future and look forward to speaking again at the Senedd in the autumn after recess.”
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