Glasgow retailer and National Deputy Vice President of the Fed, Nathalie Fullerton, hosted a visit from MSP Kim Schmulian at her Go Local store on Dumbarton Road in Partick on Friday, July 9.
Reform party MSP Schmulian was elected in May as a list member for the Glasgow city area in the recent Scottish Parliament election. The Fed’s political engagement coordinator Douglas Oliver also attended the meeting.
During the discussion, they spoke about the high amount of theft facing Scottish retailers, a fact that was recently underlined by new Scottish government data indicating shoplifting crimes increased by 19 per cent from 44,730 to 53,369 between 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Nathalie spoke about various incidents of theft and intimidation she and her staff had experienced at her own store, and the need for the police and the courts to act more decisively to tackle it. She also spoke about the Fed’s work in support of the Retail Crime Taskforce, whose advisory board she also sits on.
The Fed team highlighted the lack of resourcing and focus local authority trading standards apply to deal with black market trade and the vast tax gap that has been reported by HMRC last month, as huge quantities of tobacco are sold illicitly in the UK without being taxed.
Schmulian said: “I would like to commend Nathalie and her team for the great service they provide for people. They offer an important familiar face and serve as linchpins of the local community.
“However, levels of theft and rogue trading are a blight on high streets and are completely unacceptable. I want to work with the Fed and colleagues in the Scottish Parliament to ensure more is done to tackle this.” During the meeting, the Fed team also highlighted the organisation’s work to help members prepare for the deposit return scheme (DRS) for recycling bottles and cans when it goes live in October next year and Nathalie showed the MSP the Trovrqube self serve reverse vending solution she has in store.
Nathalie said: “I really appreciate Kim’s interest in my business and it was good to discuss some of the challenges facing small shops. It was also good to speak about some of the great value businesses like mine provide through a vast range of convenience products, plus innovating in new areas, like preparing for DRS when it goes live next year.”
