East Lothian retailer Ferhan Ashiq (pictured left), of Levenhall Village Store and Prestonpans Village Store, has been elected as Scottish district President by the Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN).
Ferhan was nominated by his fellow members and announced as the district’s President during the Scottish district’s annual general conference (3 March). He takes over from Hussan Lal (pictured right).
Ferhan said: “I am extremely honoured and proud to be given the opportunity to be the NFRN’s Scottish district president. I would like to give thanks to all of the members that put my name forward and voted for me.
“Throughout the next year, I plan to help our independent retailers in their diversification journey by helping them to find new ways to do business and survive within these extraordinarily tough times.
“I hope to be a champion for our members that have had to deal with discriminatory practices from suppliers and wholesalers.
“I also aim to fight our corner against the onerous burden of regulation placed on our sector at governmental level, and to bring light to the below minimum wage pay that our service providers expect of us.”
After being raised within the retail sector for most of his life – and owning his own store for six years – Ferhan has a considerable depth of knowledge regarding the industry. He has also won several industry awards, including an entrepreneur of the year award and a retail innovation of the year award in 2018.
Ferhan continued: “Retail is an evolving industry and some store owners are struggling to succeed.
“I aim to provide helpful advice to our retailers. I want to guide our members and inspire them to move away from declining sectors and into more successful ones, such as food-to-go areas.
“I also plan to address other long-term issues for independent retailers in Scotland. This will include the blight of criminal activity that has taken a hold of our sector and the impact of the deposit return scheme.
“In the short-term, I plan to address the impact that the coronavirus has on our industry.”
