Customers’ smiles of respect will light up big screens all over the UK from Black Friday as part of the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign to confront the abuse facing the country’s retail workers.
Smiles from shop workers, members of the public and industry leaders will appear across high streets, shopping centres and landmark sites, including Piccadilly Lights, Heathrow Airport and Flannels’ flagship Oxford Street store, in a united call for respect for retail staff in the run-up to Christmas.
The charity for retail workers is calling on shoppers to help restore humanity to the high street this Christmas, starting with simple gestures of respect like a hello, thank you or a smile.
Lord Stuart Rose, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer, Asda and Ocado, Charlie Mayfield, the former chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, alongside Howard Dawber, London’s Deputy Mayor for business, are among those to have shared smiles of respect for the screens.
Shoppers can show their support for retail workers by uploading their own smiles of respect at retailtrust.org.uk/respect and by sharing them on social media using #RespectRetail. Shared smiles will appear on the iconic screen at Piccadilly Circus on Wednesday 17 December.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said: “Thoughtless, unkind and aggressive behaviour has become ‘part of the job’ for too many shop workers today. It’s on all of us to help bring humanity back to the high street this Christmas, starting with acts as simple as a thank you, a greeting, and a smile.
“The smiles being shared across the country represent the Retail Trust’s call for dignity and decency. We know that the smallest acts of respect still make a huge difference to people who are facing daily hostility at work and this is our moment to prove that and to change behaviour.”
Alongside Piccadilly Circus, Heathrow Airport and Flannels, screens featuring the Retail Trust’s smiles of respect will appear at 24 UK shopping centres until Christmas, including Bluewater, Metrocentre, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford, thanks to the Retail Trust’s partnership with the JCDecaux Community Channel.
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