BELFAST BRIEFING:THE BOSS of one of the UK's biggest retailers has delivered a grim reality check for Northern Ireland businesses that dared to hope the worst of the recession was behind them, writes FRANCESS McDONNELL

Marks & Spencer chairman Stuart Rose believes “there are no green shoots” on the horizon.

In fact, just to be clear on the subject, he says “there are absolutely no green shoots”.

During a flying visit to Belfast to take part in the North’s first major retail conference last week, Rose said businesses had no choice but to “soldier on” because, in his opinion, the retail environment had not changed.

Stuart told his Belfast audience that “the recession came fast, it came deep and it came globally”.

He warned that it would “favour those who are strong, nimble and bold”. But he said retailers who “are weak and feeble” would be punished.

His views will resonate with many retailers, particularly small independents in the North struggling to survive as consumer spending continues to decline in parallel with rising unemployment.

The latest unemployment figures show the retail sector has not escaped severe job cuts. More than 12 per cent of the estimated 53,000 people who are currently looking for work in the North previously worked in sales and customer service.

The retail sector remains a significant economic driver in Northern Ireland, employing more than 125,000.

John Moore, president of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, which organised the conference, believes the sector has been hit harder than most because it depends heavily on consumer confidence.

But he says retailers in the North faced tough times in the past and came through them.

“Given our past, the resilience of retailing in Northern Ireland has never been in question and, in times like these, our resolve serves us well,” says Moore.

But if the boss of Marks & Spencer, which attracts more than 21 million people to its stores each week, says life at the top is tough, then for some retailers in the North it must be unbearable.

Shop owners in rural towns and villages, which have experienced some of the biggest percentage rises in unemployment, are at the coalface of the credit crunch and consumer spending freeze.

It is businesses like these that, according to the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (Niirta), are in urgent need of assistance if they are to survive the downturn. Niirta chief executive Glyn Roberts says retailers, regardless of their size, should compete for business but he says there is an issue about creating a “level playing field”.

Niirta wants the Northern Ireland Executive to come up with a new rates scheme that would benefit small retailers but levy higher rates on out-of-town shopping developments. Roberts says supermarket groups that locate in an out-of-town location enjoy a “significant and unfair competitive advantage”.

“In our view it is only right that they should pay significantly higher rates for this advantage,” he says. “This additional revenue should be ringfenced and used to fund town-centre regeneration schemes and try to repair the damage they have done to our town centres.”

Niirta claims towns such as Antrim, Larne and Derry have lost jobs and established retailers because large out-of-town developments were given the go-ahead by planning officials.

Roberts says it is crucial that the Executive finds a way to accommodate the ambitions of large multiples while protecting independent retailers.

The Planning Appeals Commission in the North is expected to rule shortly on a contentious appeal lodged by developers who want to extend an out-of town retail park close to Banbridge, Co Down. Tesco, which is backing the development at Bridgewater Park, plans to build a 130,000sq ft store on the site if the appeal is successful.

The supermarket group, which has promised to keep its existing store in Banbridge for a minimum of 10 years, says the new store would deliver significant benefits for the economy. But Niirta and many local traders in Banbridge do not agree.

“There is a real fear that if the Bridgewater Park development goes ahead then small retailers will go out of business in Banbridge,” says Roberts. “This is not just a debate about one retailer versus another; it is about the future of our town centres.”