about bssa

Welcome to the British Shops and Stores Association (bssa) website.

The Association was established in 1991 as a consequence of the merger of the Drapers' Chamber of Trade, Menswear Association of Britain and National Association of Retail Furnishers. It has enjoyed continual growth in membership in recent years from across the spectrum of high street retailers. Today it has in excess of 4,000 members who have a combined annual turnover exceeding £3 billion, trading out of 6,200 outlets and employing over 45,000 staff.

bssa has invested heavily in its infrastructure and is now recognised as a lead trade association within the non-food retail sector, where it focuses on the small and medium sized business (SME).

The Association has two primary tasks, to leverage economies of scale, created by a large membership base, to provide a comprehensive and highly competitive portfolio of core retailing business and professional services to its members. In addition, it represents the interests and concerns of its members to government both indirectly through the offices of the British Retail Consortium and directly through government departments such as the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Treasury.