Exova, the leading advisory company to the food and retail sectors is holding a FREE brunch seminar in Manchester on 7 October 2010 for retailers to find out more about the law relating to violence in the workplace and what retailers can do to defend themselves and their staff.

According to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Retail Crime Survey 2009, 22,000 people working in retail suffer threats, physical or verbal violence every year and the numbers are on the increase. But what rights do retailers have in defending themselves against these threats and what are the financial implications of robberies as well as the physical issues relating to violence against staff?

Exova’s Managing Violence and Aggression seminar will be led by the company’s experts in legislation within the workplace and feature key speakers from Greater Manchester Council and The Co-operative.

Speakers at the conference include:

Andrew Pope - National Business Crime & Risk Partnership Manager for the Co-operative Group.
Andrew’s role is the first of its kind in the retail sector and he has driven many of the unique anti-crime initiatives, which the Co-operative has pioneered, in recent years.
Andrew is a member of the National Retail Crime Steering Group, (NRCSG), chair of the British Retail Consortium’s Retail Violence Policy Action Group and an advisor to various National, Regional and County Business and regulatory forums and organisations. The Winner of a Security Excellence Award 2008 and finalist in 2009, Andrew is also a Justice of the Peace in Cheshire.

Ben Thomson – Great Manchester Council.
A Senior Environmental Health Officer with the Council, Ben has been heavily involved with the Retail Violence Initiative in Bury which involves working with Greater Manchester Police on sharing robbery data and inspecting premises which have been subject to robbery, incidents of violence or those at risk

Jonathan France, Principal Advisor, Exova
An ex-Environmental Health Officer, Jonathan assists major companies in complying with health and safety legislation in a cost effective way that meets the needs of their business. Jonathan works with some of the UK’s leading retailers on implementing health and safety legislation and has been involved in several cases regarding violence in the retail workplace.

Jonathan France from Exova said: “Employers have a responsibility under Health and Safety law to protect their workers, but as figures from the BRC demonstrate, threats and violence in the retail workplace are on the increase. Many employers have no health and safety measures or procedures in place to manage this hazard. This seminar has been developed to show retailers what their legal responsibilities are in protecting their employees and customers against this frequently occurring hazard and to look at the practical elements of implementing the law, in a commercially effective way”.

Exova’s Managing Violence and Aggression in Retail will be held from 9.30am-12.30pm at the MacDonald Hotel, Manchester on 7 October. To book a free place on the seminar please contact Lisa Hurley (0161 787 3291 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )