Savills Head of UK Commercial Surveying Property Management, Richard Hulme, Vivienne King of consultancy Impactful Places, and Foot Anstey partner, Nathan Peacey, have been appointed as new trustees of the Retail Trust as it ramps up support for retail staff in the run-up to Christmas.
They will join the Retail Trust’s board of trustees at the same time as the charity launches more help for staff facing abuse and money worries and rolls out new support to protect thousands of workers at Landsec’s 17 shopping destinations against abuse.
Hundreds of businesses will also back the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign this Christmas by increasing employee support and calling for more respect from shoppers, including M&S which has announced that it is getting behind the campaign this year.
Landsec’s managing director for retail Bruce Findlay, Holland & Barrett’s CEO Anthony Houghton, and New Look’s former executive chairman Alistair McGeorge are among other retail and property leaders on the Retail Trust’s board of trustees. Sainsbury’s chief retail, logistics and supply chain officer, Tracey Clements, and Amazon’s director for EU Fresh, Matt Birch, were appointed earlier this year.
Richard Hulme established and led Savills Bristol property management team from 2006 to 2015 before taking on roles as head of London retail management and UK head of retail and leisure management. He is also involved with the Retail Property Association to support greater collaboration across the commercial property sector.
Vivienne King has held real estate leadership roles for over 30 years, including as general counsel at the Crown Estate, and as CEO of Soho Housing Association and Revo, the trade association for the built retail and leisure environment, where she also served as chair. She is currently a board member for Revo and the Churches Conservation Trust and chairs the Shopkeepers Campaign for business rates reform for retail.
Nathan Peacey leads national law firm Foot Anstey’s retail and consumer sector and has been a long-term supporter of the Let’s Respect Retail campaign. He also created the Retailers Against Harassment Certification with the Retail Trust to help retailers protect their employees from harassment and support them when they encounter it.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said: “We are strengthening our board of trustees at a pivotal moment for retail, with a renewed government focus on regenerating high streets and tackling retail crime and with worker wellbeing expected to come under increasing strain this Christmas.
“Richard, Vivienne and Nathan bring a huge amount of experience from across the retail and property sectors that will help us to bolster our support for the entire workforce and bring even more of the industry together to respond to the pressures threatening their wellbeing.”