Following Patricia Hewitt's plans to help cut red tape for the retail sector, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has issued a statement warmly welcoming the ideas.

The secretary for trade and industry has suggested the creation of a retail strategy group to help the industry work more closely with the government, and the BRC is 'delighted' with the suggestion.

Director general Bill Moyes said: 'I warmly welcome Patricia Hewitt's speech and her concrete moves to engage with the retail sector.

'We are delighted by the formation of the retail strategy group. It not only marks a new high point in the government's understanding of retail as a key industry, but the strong retail presence of it signifies real desire for effective, constructive consultation with business.' He added: 'The BRC will work closely with this high level group whose starting point will be to identify the barriers to retail competition and efficiency.'