The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has announced that Debbie
Harding, Chief People & Corporate Officer at Dobbies Garden
Centres, is to become SRC Chair in Spring 2024.
Debbie will succeed John Brodie M.B.E. who has served as SRC
Chair since January 2018.
Debbie is a board director with Dobbies Garden Centres which is
the UK’s leading garden centre retailer. Headquartered in
Scotland, Dobbies Garden Centres employs in the region of 4,000
colleagues across 77 stores located in Scotland, England, Wales
and Northern Ireland with its latest store opening in Antrim this
week.
Debbie is a member of the Scottish Government’s Retail Industry
Leadership Group and joined SRC’s Board in early 2021. She will
be the first female Chair of the Scottish Retail Consortium since
it formed in 1999 and will work with the 14-person Board and
Director David Lonsdale to champion the retail industry and
enhance its prospects for growth.
The retail industry is Scotland’s largest private sector employer
with 258,000 colleagues.
Debbie Harding said:
“Scotland’s retail industry has proved its resilience during
the turbulent times of the pandemic and costs crunch, and
continues to make an enormous economic and social contribution to
our country.
“However, this remains a challenging time for the industry.
Technological change and customer behaviour are evolving at pace,
operating costs remain elevated, and demands from public policy
appear to be ever-increasing.
“That is why it is important the SRC continues the work John
oversaw, to tell the story of a changing retail landscape and to
encourage policy makers to pursue a more coherent approach
towards the industry which helps retailers adapt and evolve to
meet the challenges ahead. I look forward to taking on the
leadership of the SRC Board and ensuring a continued strong voice
for the sector.”
SRC Director David Lonsdale added:
“I’m thrilled Debbie has agreed to take on the role of SRC
Chair. She is an outstanding industry leader and I’m sure she’ll
bring those skills to support the work of the SRC in advocating
on behalf of retailers and the customers they
serve.
“I would like to pay enormous thanks to John Brodie for the
very significant contribution he has made as chair over the past
almost six years. He has been a brilliant servant of the industry
through unprecedented and remarkably active times for the SRC,
overseeing and guiding our efforts through the pandemic lockdowns
and costs crunch. We wish him all the best for the future and an
enjoyable retirement when he steps down from Scotmid next
August.”
John Brodie M.B.E. added:
“The Scottish Retail Consortium does an important job in
representing the industry to policy makers and stakeholders in
Scotland and across the UK, and I have every confidence that
Debbie will be a first class Chair and further strengthen the
work of the SRC.”
