AUGUST TRADE NEWS Bad weather blamed for shopping centre delay Chester council  not supporting retailers New rules 'won't help save retail centre' Irish shoppers look abroad for bargains British consumers spend more on beauty products Yorkshire town gets behind plastic bag reduction scheme Rising obesity prompts calls for VAT rule changes eBay restructures fee scheme to make fixed-priced sales cheaper Online sales boom despite slowdown Music retailer goes out of business Matalan named and shamed for how it treats wholesalers BCC slams higher parking charges proposals Booming wholesaler moves to new warehouse Market traders told to only 'shout quietly' London's retailers show growth despite gloom Counterfeit goods dealer sentenced to prison UK's smallest town protests supermarket plan More retailers and wholesalers going out of business Online retail sector predicted to expand rapidly Henley retailers protest development plans Retail sales continue to slow Tiffany appeals US court's eBay ruling Report criticises electricity suppliers' treatment of small businesses MK retailers protest Tesco expansion plan Yorkshire retailers protest supermarket move Manchester wholesaler shut down over fraud worries Businesses welcome plans to reduce red tape Rate hold accepted by small businesses Internet sales put pressure on the high street Huge counterfeit goods haul in Somerset Irish entrepreneur online retail plans Wholesaler sector set to struggle Staycations could help British retailers Retailers 'gloomy' about economic outlook Retailers report footfall continues to decline as consumers cut back Hidden door reveals huge counterfeiting operation in Manchester shop No recession for the UK this year East London wholesaler goes into receivership London mayor reveals plans to support small retailers Toy retailers defy gloom Retailers urged to embrace online sales Trade News Archive August 08 July 08 June 08 May 08 April 08 March 08 February 08 January 08 Subscribe to our newsletter   Go to The Wholesaler UK Directory 20th August 2008 Matalan named and shamed for how it treats wholesalers The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has said that it is 'naming and shaming' Matalan for the way it treats the wholesalers that supply it. According to the pressure group, the retailer is set to impose a two per cent deduction on all payments to suppliers from the beginning of September. The retailer said that it was doing this to fund TV advertising and other marketing campaigns. "This is not the first time that Matalan has passed on costs to its suppliers and it represents a payment problem that is endemic across a number of industry sectors," commented FPB chief executive Phil Orford. "The fact that this latest charge is being justified to fund initiatives like marketing and international expansion adds insult to injury for many smaller firms, which are struggling to control essential costs as the economic downturn continues." Mr Orford said that the move was all the more galling as Matalan posted profits of £53.2 million in June of this year. The FPB's adviser on payments, Stuart Blake, said that the law did protect small wholesalers from larger buyers. He explained: "A change to contractual terms cannot be made unilaterally. This is a simple matter of contract law."   (c) 2008 Adfero Ltd. Sponsor of August Trade News Cantilever TV Brackets   Comment on this news story To comment on any story please click on the above link, put the story title in the subject line and please provide your name, trading style ie. retailer or wholesaler and the town where you trade.