The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has said it is fully behind the #ShopKind campaign which launches this week.
ShopKind is backed by the Home Office and supported by major high street retailers, as well as the shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw (The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers). The aim of the campaign is to encourage positive behaviours in shops, acknowledge the important role of shopworkers, and raise awareness of the scale and impact of violence and abuse against shopworkers.
Figures show that 400 shopworkers are abused every day, which has prompted the campaign to ask shoppers to be kind and to encourage people to always report violence and abuse.
Bira, which works with more than 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, said abuse towards shopworkers was a real problem, and so were fully supporting the campaign.
Jeff Moody, commercial director of Bira, commented: “Shopworkers should be able to go about their day-to-day business with respect and thanks from people using their invaluable service.
“This is a great campaign which we are encouraging all of our members to get behind. We want to be able to help encourage positive behaviours in shops, and also acknowledge the important role of shopworkers in our villages, towns and cities.
“400 shopworkers being abused each day is a shocking figure and even one case isn’t acceptable. We would therefore urge each and every shopworker who is abused to ensure they report the crime as soon as possible.”
www.bira.co.uk