Retailers will increase their support to voluntary and community organisations as long as the government helps them to do so, according to the new chairman of the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

At his first public address at BRC’s annual parliamentary reception last night, Rob Templeman praised the retail sector for its role in supporting local communities “against a backdrop of the toughest macro-economic climates”.

Using the event to launch the first publication evidencing the “best examples” of voluntary and community work in the retail sector, Retail in society: Serving our communities, Templeman said that the retail sector has a responsibility to communities and pledged the sector’s support for the future:

“Retailers know that our communities need our help more when times are tough and there is no doubt our sector will continue to invest time and money in helping improve the communities they serve.

"As local authorities' budgets reduce, many local groups will be turning to business and asking them to dig a little deeper in support of community activities.

“But as this report clearly demonstrates the retail sector already does so much to support the communities in which they operate. We understand that in the future we may need to do more and retailers will not shrink from this challenge," he said.

Government support needed

But Templeman, who is also chairman of Graduate Fashion Week and the Children with Cancer Ball committee, advised that the BRC was calling on government to help the retail sector succeed in this mission.

“Government can, and should help. If government makes it easier for us to do business, to grow jobs and to invest in our people, it will also enable us to continue with, and expand, our support for the people and places we serve,” he said.

He added that he has written to the Chancellor with a series of recommendations, which include limiting the increase of business rates on property for retailers and keeping the costs of fuel down.

Templeton's remarks and the BRC report come six months after the Commission on Big Society claimed that corporate social responsibility was "tokenistic", more of a marketing exercise than about making a difference.

The BRC report, however, says that “delivering wider social and public good is a fundamental part of the ‘permit to trade’ any company needs in today’s society”, and highlights 15 retailers already providing support to the community. Together these retailers, which include Argos, Homebase, Boots, Starbucks, Tesco and McDonalds, have raised more than £25m and donated over 1,000 hours of staff time.

In a Q&A within the report Katy Chason, employer supported volunteering manager at Volunteering England, said that a volunteering scheme can be implemented in any sized business: “While it’s true that fewer SMEs have formal volunteering policies, many of the best examples of innovative skills development using volunteering have been from small businesses. Some might say that their entrepreneurial skills make them particularly good at developing partnerships.”