British Retail Consortium director general Kevin Hawkins has said the government must do more to help UK retailers thrive and has taken on Jane Milne to lead its lobbying and policy work.
In the new role of director of business environment, Milne, who starts in November, will tackle a "wide range of issues" affecting retail, including national minimum wage, business rates and retail crime.
Green issues would be a priority for Milne. Hawkins said the government should offer companies more incentives to adopt green initiatives, reiterating the comments made by Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy last month.
"Retailers shouldn't wait for the government to make the legislation on environmental issues. Self-help is better than waiting for the government to impose restrictive policies," said Hawkins.
Milne will also work towards a "workable" EU Emissions Trading Scheme, carbon labelling scheme and the plastic bag reduction programme. She is currently head of property and creditor at the Association of British Insurers and was previously head of Common Agricultural Policy Reform at the Treasury. She has also worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
"Jane's combination of trade association and government experience should mean she's well placed to represent our members," said Hawkins.
The BRC will submit its retail manifesto to the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform next week, setting out key issues it wants the government to address.
"I told secretary of state John Hutton last week that we need more progress with regulatory reform, easing the burden of regulation, especially on SMEs, and simplifying existing legislation," he added.
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