The Welsh Retail Consortium launched

The trade body will build on the BRC’s work in the region and liaise closely with the Welsh Government and local authorities.

Retailers make up around one in ten of all businesses and is the largest private sector employer in Wales.

Today also sees the launch of a new report, Welsh Retail: Serving Our Communities, which draws on research by Oxford Economics and the Oxford Institute of Retail Management to present key statistics about the country’s retail sector.

The sector accounts for more than 11% of the total workforce, providing jobs for around 131,000 people. A large proportion of retail jobs are held by people who are 25 and under, an age group facing particular challenges finding work in the current economic climate.

Welsh Retail Consortium Director Mark Ross said: “The Welsh Government has more power than ever before to shape the business environment and to influence the Welsh economy. There are already positive signs that ministers are looking to work with the retail sector for the benefit of all rather than treating it as a cash cow to be milked through higher taxation – a mistake being made by the administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.”