The Scottish Grocer’s Federation (SGF) has revealed plans to launch its first Diversity & Inclusion Conference on Thursday 3rd April at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Glasgow.
Comprising individuals’ lived experiences, retailer insights and expert guidance, the conference has been created to provide awareness and learnings, coupled with practical advice, tools and take aways for independent retailers to help them embrace a diverse and inclusive culture in their organisations. The tangible benefits to businesses that embrace a truly diverse and inclusive culture for their colleagues and customer, will also be shared.
The event is free to attend for all independent retailers and is supported by Booker Wholesale as Headline Partner, with additional sponsorship from Mondelez and Heineken.
Colm Johnson, Managing Director, Booker Group – Retail, will be talking about his experiences around colleague networks, while Adam Shields, Senior Customer Manager and Enable (Disability) Taskforce Lead at Heineken, will share his insights on raising awareness and driving change for disabled colleagues.
The event will also hear from Glasgow retailer Natalie Lightfoot, one of the founding members of peer support platform Retailers 4 Retailers (R4R), as well as One Stop Dumbarton Road owner Nathalie Fullerton.
Also on stage will be Mandi Leonard, Welfare Director of GroceryAid, who will be highlighting to retailers the wealth of support that is available to them and their teams to provide relief during tough times; and Jamie Meechan, Senior Associate at independent law firm Burness Paull, who will discuss what the law says about equality, diversity, and inclusion in the UK and why it can be good for businesses to go beyond the legal minimum.
Attendees will also hear from Lee Birmingham, who will share his experience about living with a disability, and offer his advice about how independent stores can be more inclusive.
Pete Cheema, CEO of SGF, said: “SGF believes a truly diverse and inclusive workplace stems from individual knowledge and awareness and we are confident that this event will improve understanding and allow retailers to implement best practice towards a more inclusive workplace environment.”
Johnson said: “It’s great news that the SGF is shining a light on diversity and starting to help independent retailers understand how they can build a more inclusive culture, for both their colleagues and customers alike. Everyone being more mindful can only bring positive change. Independent retailers are already at the heart of the communities they serve and helping them and their teams be at their best is really important to everyone at Booker.”
Alisdair Hamilton, Field Sales & Sales Support Director at Mondelez, said: “This is a welcome initiative by the SGF which reflects the changing requirements for retailers and distributors alike, namely that being thoughtful on inclusion is no longer a ‘nice to do’, more like a ‘need to do’. When we heard what the R4R group were trying to achieve we wanted straight away to give them this opportunity to get their name out using this new SGF platform. We, at Mondelez, are excited to discover where this initiative can take us all.”
Shields said: “Inclusion and Diversity fosters a sense of true togetherness and drives us to seek deeper connections with our employees, consumers and customers. A diverse and inclusive workforce is good for our people and business as it sparks innovation and leads to better performance.”
Any business interested in finding out more can visit the SGF’s website, where you can also register to attend the event can register free of charge.
