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Retail experts fear chains will be ignored by Portas
THE BRITISH Retail Consortium (BRC) has expressed fears that a review of the UK high street by TV’s Mary Portas will favour independent shops at the expense of chains.
Portas’s government appointment tasks her with breathing new life into the struggling retail sector.
She is known for championing independent shops through her TV shows, but the BRC says that help is needed across the board.
BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: “Independents are a vital part of an attractive retail mix but so are the big names.
“Ultimately it’s customers who have the power in retailing through the shopping choices they make.
“This review should not seek to restrict that choice by making life harder for any particular category of retailers.”