Interview by Neighbourhood Retailer staff writer, Julie Nash<\/strong><\/p>\n The driving force behind Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC), he says the ultimate goal of his role is to make a tangible positive difference for retailers. NIRC has the weight and support of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) behind it, but when Aodh\u00e1n took up the reins as director of its devolved Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, it was a new opportunity to have a considerable impact for the retail industry in Northern Ireland, to shape the debates, to have incisive input and influence through tireless political engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cI was given a platform to sell not only the retail industry but what\u2019s best about Northern Ireland and why we should be a growth market for retailers,\u201d said Aodh\u00e1n.<\/p>\n \u201cNorthern Ireland is not at saturation point. 40 years of economic turmoil had led to Northern Ireland not being the obvious best prospect. That changed in the nineties, and is continuing to change and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n NIRC represents a broad church of retailers \u2013 from the large multi-nationals to small bricks and mortar businesses and franchises.<\/p>\n \u201cI prefer the term \u2018retail industry\u2019 to \u2018retail sector,\u2019\u201d says Aodh\u00e1n. \u201cThe NIRC represents the retail industry, and within that are multiple sectors \u2013 from fashion, food to go, and all the various retail sectors. There are probably 20 to 30 different retail sectors \u2013 from pet food retailers to high end perfumeries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNIRC is very much member led. Our members give us a position of trust, and great understanding. For example, 100 different companies and 100 association members, all have different interests. Our members put trust in us, which is why we can say we\u2019re leading the retail industry in Northern Ireland. It\u2019s impossible to keep everyone happy all of the time so we have to do what is best for the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI use the analogy of a knight in shining armour. Sometimes we\u2019re the sword \u2013 for example on business rates; sometimes we\u2019re the shield, when it\u2019s a reputation issue; and sometimes we\u2019re the standard bearer telling of the industry\u2019s work. More money is raised by the retail industry for charities than any other sector, and retail staff give more in volunteer hours. The retail industry in NI has raised over \u00a315m for charities in the past five years, and that\u2019s not including the value of 55,000 hours of volunteer hours, which is also a huge amount.<\/p>\n \u201cThe retail industry is the largest private sector employer in Northern Ireland. One in eight households has someone working in retail, more women than men. \u00a31,400 is spent per person, each year on training.<\/p>\n \u201cRetail also has more people than any other sector starting a second career, for many different reasons. It may be to top up a pension or parents returning to work \u2013 retail has a really diverse work force.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, one of our members is a large DIY store. I like to do a lot of site visits and talk to members. It employs men who have worked a life time in construction, who know just about everything about construction. The employer will train them in customer care and so on \u2013 which sums up retail. They hire for attitude and train for skill. The work force is cross generational. Older people bring a lifetime of experience, younger people bring different skills and ethusiasm.<\/p>\n \u201cRetail has challenges \u2013 like any sector, however one of the biggest challenges has been that the retail industry has been undervalued by both the body politic and the public. But perhaps people have a better understanding of how food gets on the table now because of the Brexit debate. If a truck leaves the south of Spain to bring fresh fruit and vegetables, there\u2019s a two hour window for the \u2018just in time\u2019 supply chain to arrive at a supermarket anywhere in NI. This is the biggest threat under Brexit.<\/p>\n \u201cMy views on Brexit have not changed over these three years; we need to have unfettered access to the EU mainland, the south and the GB market.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current deal on the table does not give unfettered access \u2013 particularly from GB to NI. There will be paperwork, barriers that were never there before. There will be added complexity and costs.<\/p>\n \u201cRetail is high volume and low profit. Northern Ireland consumers have half the discretionary income as elsewhere. Work needs to be done by the EU and UK to make sure it\u2019s as frictionless as possible. This deal means there will be significant costs through the supply chain.<\/p>\n \u201cThere seems to be a narrative now in Westminster that there\u2019s a deal and so the \u2018Northern Ireland problem\u2019 is solved, but Westminster is not listening to the concerns of retailers. Food is the biggest problem. All sectors are looking at the complexity and thinking it\u2019s only slightly better than no deal, but still complex and challenging\u201d.<\/p>\n While NIRC is part of the BRC, it has a certain amount of autonomy locally to deliver on local needs. However BRC brings a definite weight when it comes to Westminster engagement. The emphasis on Northern Ireland and the border has been able to open doors. NIRC has appeared before various Westminster committees.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very fortunate to have my colleague at the BRC William Bain, who has the biggest brain when it comes to EU trade. His political knowledge and expertise is unrivalled. Together we were working 60 to 70 hours weeks, taking midnight calls, doing whatever we could to inform the debate and deliver for members \u2013 I have never worked harder.\u201d<\/p>\n From Westminster to local councils, NIRC has a broad remit when it comes to political engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cUp until the reforms and the new super councils were formed, Northern Ireland had 900 public officials at council level. There are only a couple of other places in the world that had a higher rate of public officials. Also, in Northern Ireland we need to meet with five or six different political parties rather than say three at Westminister. Our standing with the body politic in Northern Ireland has got considerably stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cThere has been a seismic change in the retail industry in the past five years. There are changes in how we do things. Here, the large retailers had kept their heads below the parapet, but we need to shout more about what we do like our environmental campaign \u2018Better Retail, Better World\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Better Retail Better World\u2019 is mobilising the retail industry to meet some of the biggest global challenges of the coming decades highlighted by the UN, including, sustainable economic growth, inequalities, climate change, and responsible consumption and production.<\/p>\n Using the widely recognised United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework, clear, transparent and measurable goals developed with businesses and campaigners are at the heart of the initiative.<\/p>\n Put simply, this action will mean reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and waste sent to landfill and more support for people from under represented demographics to progress in employment.<\/p>\n \u201cMembers have bought in to this campaign\u201d explained Aodh\u00e1n. \u201cThey are responsible retailers; we need to let the public know. I\u2019m extremely proud of what we\u2019re doing. We have many good stories to tell. Retailers take a lot of flak. They are easy targets, especially on employment, skills, and the environment.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever we had a vacuum here with Stormont down. The NIRC has put its head above the parapet and spoken out. This has resulted in a certain amount of praise and positive feedback, but also some really nasty comments on social media. There\u2019s a lot of frustration over Brexit. The business community has been critical of Boris\u2019 deal. Bottom line is we need unfettered access north, south, east and west.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2020s will be an era of transformation and not without its challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be one of two things \u2013 retail Armageddon or retail reinvention. We believe it will be reinvention. There will be fewer but better shops, fewer but better jobs and more of a mix of shopping online and bricks and mortar. How we spend our money is changing, that\u2019s why we need to look at many high streets as destinations.<\/p>\n \u201cAs retail contracts, we need more hospitality and leisure, we need to find ways of making people want to spend their time in town centres. The current focus of spending money will change. The focus will be on creating places where people spend time \u2013 an eclectic mix of retail, hospitality and leisure. We also need more people living in town centres for that to happen.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will need to be capital grants, tax incentives, buy-in from central government to create new town centre amenities, but we need to plan these new communities carefully \u2013 aspirational living for those who want to spend time in city centres.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe rates regime is stopping investment and resulted in the quick demise of some retailers. The government puts up rates to get money in but those rates without reform get higher causing a quicker contraction of retail which leads to less properties paying so rates go up and the vicious circle continues. Investment decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest tragedies of the Assembly being down for three years and Brexit, is how that\u2019s affected investment decisions. We need to examine the economic impact. We\u2019ve been reliant on Westminster committees to do that. We didn\u2019t hear the voice of the Northern Ireland business community being heard by committees at Stormont. It\u2019s been hugely disappointing. When the history books are written, there will be a tangible disappointment about how it\u2019s been handled. However it\u2019s great to see the Assembly restored.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe future of retail will be transforming what we do \u2013 it will become more about customer experience, with the same high level of standards expected from Birmingham to Belfast.<\/p>\n \u201cThe personal service aspect is highly important. It\u2019s not just about technology driven front of house, it\u2019s about personal experience. People want a good experience \u2013 and retail is a consumer driven industry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt used to be that people were money poor, time rich. That\u2019s been reversed. Retailers need to give the consumer the experience they want.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information of NIRC visit: brc.org.uk\/nirc<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Northern Ireland Retail Consortium\u2019s director Aodh\u00e1n Connolly reveals 2019 was a year of unprecedented challenges for the retail industry in Northern Ireland. Interview by Neighbourhood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":13088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,182],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Aodhan-Connolly.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13087"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13091,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13087\/revisions\/13091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neighbourhoodretailer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How do you bridge those many different interests?<\/h3>\n
Undervalued<\/h3>\n
Unfettered access<\/h3>\n
Political engagement<\/h3>\n
\u2018Better Retail, Better World\u2019<\/h3>\n
New decade<\/h3>\n
Rates regime<\/h3>\n
Future of retail<\/h3>\n