British Retail Consortium
Encyclopedia
The British Retail Consortium (or BRC) is one of the leading trade associations in the United Kingdom
. They represent all forms of retailers from small, independently owned stores, to big chain store
s and department store
s. It represents 80% of retail trade in the UK by turnover.
food products often have to comply with the BRC standards: they are an industry-wide benchmark
for quality and food safety.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. They represent all forms of retailers from small, independently owned stores, to big chain store
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
s and department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s. It represents 80% of retail trade in the UK by turnover.
History
The British Retail Consortium was formed in January 1992 when the British Retailers' Association and the Retail Consortium merged. In 1998 it produced the first edition of the BRC Food Technical Standard and Protocol for food suppliers. This has been widely adopted not just throughout the UK but around the world.Functions
It campaigns for the retail industry and is the authoritative voice of retail, recognised for its powerful campaigning and influence within government and as a provider of in-depth retail information. In addition, the BRC produce standards that manufacturers have to comply with, in different product areas, such as food, packaging and consumer products. Companies exporting to the UK have to reach the BRC's standards to be certified via their own inspectors. Companies supplying supermarkets with own labelPrivate brand
Private branding is when a large distribution channel member , buys from a manufacturer in bulk and puts its own name on the product. This strategy is, with some exceptions, generally only practical when the retailer does very high levels of volume...
food products often have to comply with the BRC standards: they are an industry-wide benchmark
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost...
for quality and food safety.
BRC Global Standards
It is well-known for its global standards in four areas, producing much literature on these topics:- Food safetyFood safetyFood safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
- Consumer products
- Packaging and packaging materials
- Storage and distributionLogistic engineeringLogistics engineering is a branch of systems engineering dedicated to the scientific organization of the purchase, transport, storage, distribution, and warehousing of materials and finished goods....
Consumer and industry interests
It monitors the state of the retail industry on a regular schedule, but it has specific interests such as:- UK Retail Sales
- Food price inflation
- Consumer confidenceConsumer confidenceConsumer confidence is an economic indicator which measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation. How confident people feel about stability of their incomes determines their spending activity and therefore serves as...
- Value added taxValue added taxA value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...
- EU legislation
External links
News items
- Food sell-by dates in June 2009
- Attacks on shop workers in April 2008
- Stealth genetically-modified products in November 2007
- Shop-lifting in October 2007
- Trans-fats in January 2007
- Farmers v supermarkets in April 2005
- The British Aisles in December 2004
- Theft in May 1999
- The Euro in November 1998
- School truancy in July 1998