The retail sector has typically relied on young people to meet employment demands.  However, demographic change i.e. the ageing of the UK population, together with the growth in numbers entering higher education means this pool is shrinking.  Research has also found that young people have negative perceptions of the industry.

As a consequence, some employers in the sector have actively started to recruit mature workers.  B&Q has been a pioneer in this area, and ASDA has introduced policies such as ‘grandparent leave’ for its employees.

Source: Harris and Church 2002 and Retail e-commerce task force 2001