UK retailers see damage to reputation as a greater threat to their businesses than the economy, a survey by risk management company Aon has found.
Seven in 10 rated reputational damage as a high or very high threat to their brand, found the focus group of 25 retailers with a turnover of at least £1bn, 10 of which identified themselves as grocery businesses.
This made it the greatest perceived threat to retail businesses when the focus group sessions were conducted in March and April, followed by changes to the UK economy and greater competition in the market.
Richard Waterer, EMEA managing director of risk control at Aon, said food retailers were likely to place an even stronger emphasis on reputation because it was so closely linked to sales. “I certainly think trust is an important attribute in a food retail environment,” he said.
Food businesses were also likely to be more concerned about the introduction of the national living wage than other retailers, Waterer said. Overall, retailers ranked the minimum wage as the 11th most important risk facing them. Waterer said this would feature far higher up in the list for food retailers, which employed a higher number of people on the minimum wage.
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