Midsummer Place has joined a national campaign tackling abuse of retail workers as businesses prepare for Black Friday and the Christmas trading period.
The Milton Keynes shopping centre is supporting the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign, which runs from 9 to 30 November and encourages customers to treat staff with greater courtesy and respect.
Its involvement comes as the charity’s annual survey of 1,138 shop workers found that 54% reported facing abuse or violence every week, compared with 43% last year and 33% in 2024. The findings underline the challenge facing retail employers as stores enter the festive trading season. retailtrust.org.uk
Throughout November, Midsummer Place will promote the campaign across the centre, asking visitors to recognise the people working in its shops, restaurants and cafés. Materials will focus on small gestures, including greeting staff and saying thank you, to encourage more positive customer interactions.
Simon Martin, pictured, centre manager at Midsummer Place, said: “Our retail teams are at the heart of Midsummer Place. As we head towards Christmas, thousands of conversations and interactions will take place across the centre every single day, and behind every one of those is a person working hard to give our visitors a great experience.
“The message behind Let’s Respect Retail is brilliantly simple. Saying hello costs absolutely nothing, but it can completely change an interaction.”
The national campaign brings together retail and leisure businesses to raise awareness of the impact of customer abuse on staff. Retailers and shopping destinations are being encouraged to display campaign materials and share the message through social media and internal communications.
Activity is also planned around Black Friday on 27 November, when the Retail Trust intends to hold a national “moment of humanity” involving shoppers and retailers.
For Midsummer Place, the campaign places the working environment of its retail teams alongside the experience it offers customers.
Simon said: “We want Midsummer Place to be somewhere where people enjoy shopping, working and spending time, so this November we’re asking our visitors to join us: say hello, say thank you and remember the person behind the counter.”
He added: “Christmas shopping can be busy and stressful, both for customers and for the people working in our stores. A little patience and kindness can go a very long way.”
