Economic Headwinds Are Bad Enough Without This!

Economic headwinds are bad enough without this!

Len Glenville
Chair, Health Stores UK

As a trade association that always acts on behalf of our full membership, we are mindful that members have differing views on political issues. But when political policy threatens serious negative impacts for our whole industry we have to call it out.

So, in common with other organisations representing independent retailers (including our affiliate association Bira), we are making our position very clear on recent political developments that we fear could have existential repercussions for many of our members.

The first of these are the sweeping changes to the Employment Rights Bill, announced in Parliament on 10 October. While supporting the Government’s aim to improve workplace protection and rights, we are concerned that some of the measures in the Bill will threaten the viability of small businesses, many of which are already in a financially precarious position.

The current one-size-fits-all approach to this legislation disproportionately affects smaller retailers such as health stores. We simply don’t have the resources of larger employers to absorb the extra costs, and our members often rely on flexible working arrangements to stay in business.

Then came the Autumn Budget with its triple whammy of doubled business rates, increased National Insurance, and higher minimum wage costs. We agree wholeheartedly with the view of Bira’s CEO Andrew Goodacre, who called the Budget “without doubt the worst Budget for independent retailers I have seen in my time representing the sector”.

It is difficult not to see this as “an anti-high street Budget”, to use Andrew’s phrase. The only businesses it serves are the big corporates who will simply take over more of the available retail/purchasing space, while pushing out smaller business owners. The economic headwinds are strong enough already, so the last thing we need is this.

The reaction from small retail groups and many individual businesses to the Budget has been immediate, consistent and very noisy. We hope that by keeping up the pressure we can persuade Ministers to think again, do what they pledged they would do and support independent retailers with pro-high street policies.

The good news

On a much more positive front, we were delighted last month to welcome Dave Christie as our new Head of Business Development, a brand-new role created by the Association to drive future growth and development.

As many of you will already know, Dave is a highly experienced business mentor with a deep knowledge and experience of the independent health food channel. His business Take on Goliath is already a Partner of the Association, and he has made a fantastic contribution over the last 18 months hosting webinars, offering unique ‘insider advice’ to members and helping us out at key trade shows.

As Head of Business Development, we are confident Dave will bring new energy and insight to Health Stores UK, helping us build new partnerships and strengthening our influence with key industry stakeholders.

As he told us: “I am so passionate about helping independent businesses. More than anything it’s an opportunity to help those businesses rise up, to protect our high streets – both the retailers and the specialist brands who work tirelessly to give this fantastic offering to our customers – so we can grow our businesses together”.

Get webinar wise

Our Wednesday Webinar events go from strength to strength, thanks to the efforts of our brilliant hosts and attendees. Holly Thallon Steenson hosted a fantastic session last time on the theme of ‘future proofing your business’, showing how to deepen your store’s appeal to Gen Z and Millennials. We learnt about which social platforms they hang out on, that young consumers ‘don’t just buy products, they buy a story’, and about the huge opportunity to convert these younger consumers into health store regulars.

You can watch the full session now at our website www.healthstores.uk and find details of upcoming Shop Talk and Mastermind Forum events.

Join Health Stores UK for just £21 per month via www.healthstores.uk for many benefits including free Bira membership and a downloadable copy of How to Open and Run a Successful Health Store.