Hansard

I thank my colleague Gordon MacDonald for bringing the debate to the chamber and I welcome our visitors in the public gallery.

On 27 November last year, I had the pleasure of sending off a charity conga around Hampden Park. Participating in that event were a number of local primary schools, including additional support needs schools. The purpose behind the conga was to raise funds to ensure that no child in those schools went without a happy Christmas. All the funding that was raised on the day, which totalled thousands of pounds, was kept by the schools for their pupils.

Those responsible for that fantastic event—besides Glasgow the Caring City and the schools—included Hampden Park, which generously let us use the stadium, and the Scottish Grocers Federation, which made sure that every child was watered and fed. There might even have been some teacakes and caramel wafers from a well-known company whose name escapes me.

That generosity from the SGF is only one example of the community work that the independent retail sector does. The report provides an excellent breakdown of the sector’s activities in communities. As Gordon MacDonald said, more than 80 per cent of independent retailers are involved in their community, and across the United Kingdom, Scotland is second in that only to the south-west of England. The sector is to be congratulated on that.

Community engagement has taken many forms, which include collecting money for national or local charities. Local stores provide funding or in-kind support to local events and sponsor local sports teams or other community activities. They play an important role in community, council and local business association meetings and projects.

I was amazed at some of the other statistics that the report contains. The convenience store sector is worth a staggering £5 billion to the UK economy, which equates to 6 per cent of the UK retail sector; 75 per cent of local shops are owned by small business owners, many of whom benefit from the small business bonus, as Gordon MacDonald mentioned; 32 per cent of owners are women, which is not parity but is an encouraging number to build on; 23 per cent of business owners have been in business for more than 26 years; and 36 per cent own their business in partnership with family members. Stability and longevity appear to be just two of the benefits of running a convenience store.

We cannot forget that, when the word “convenience” is used, it is extremely appropriate: 78 per cent of customers travel less than a mile to their local store; 25 per cent use their local store every day; and, as has been mentioned, 58 per cent travel by foot to their store, so the stores are both convenient and environmentally friendly.

In areas such as the Cathcart constituency, the convenience store often stands alone as the sole source of shopping in parts of housing estates such as Castlemilk. In areas such as Croftfoot and Shawlands, where the stores are playing a notable role in establishing a new business improvement district, they operate with other service providers to give residents choice and diversity. They are such an important part of the local community that it was after consulting local businesses in Mount Florida and Battlefield that I helped to establish the business forum, in which the numerous convenience stores that are located in the area have continued to play an important role.

Many of us will remember Ronnie Barker’s popular sitcom “Open All Hours”. That title—although, thankfully, not the attitude and work practices of that old skinflint Arkwright—could not be more apt. The stores are indeed open all hours. They are often open 24 hours, seven days a week, which earns them the accolade of being a crucial mainstay of the community.

I congratulate the SGF and its partners on compiling the report. The sector deserves to be recognised for the role that it plays as an important part of Scotland’s economy and for its resilience in response to a changing business environment. It also deserves our recognition and praise for the important role that it plays in communities across constituencies such as Cathcart and for the many examples of support that it has given our communities.