Trading Places

A unique opportunity for Local Authorities and Businesses (Copyright of the Local Better Regulation Office).

Trading Places is a scheme developed by the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) to give local authority regulatory professionals a chance to step into the shoes of their business customers and gain a unique insight into the impact of regulation. Over the course of two days, participants will hear about how a business is run and see first-hand the challenges that companies could face in complying with trading laws. The scheme has been endorsed by the Confederation of British Industry, the British Retail Consortium, and the British Chambers of Commerce, as well as key professional bodies the Trading Standards Institute and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

A pilot project was conducted in 2008 to find the best way of delivering business and commercial awareness. The project proved to be a big hit with both businesses and professional regulators.

Until recently, few local authority regulators spent significant time in businesses during their professional careers. This had not gone unnoticed in the business community. The general feeling was that local regulators did not fully appreciate how seriously companies took compliance, or the challenges they faced in a fast moving commercial environment. This is why Trading Places was developed – to give regulators a better understanding of how businesses manage regulation, and to foster a partnership approach to delivering compliance.

Trading Places is part of a wider effort to forge stronger relationships between local regulators and the businesses they serve.

As well as giving local regulators the chance to understand business processes, it gives companies an opportunity to make the most of the expertise and services on offer from local councils, to help grow their businesses and increase prosperity. By learning how best to support and minimise burdens for compliant businesses, more resources can be deployed to tackle the rogue traders who undermine legitimate competition and confidence in compliant firms.

The scheme benefits business by:

• breaking down barriers to communication with local regulators
• building stronger working relationships
• promoting a partnership approach to achieving compliance
• enabling the business to receive better targeted assistance.

The scheme is open to all professionally qualified trading standards, environmental health, licensing and fire safety officers working in local authorities, as well as businesses from any sector.

If you wish to register an interest in taking part, either as a regulator or a host business please visit the LBRO website and follow the link from the home page  Alternatively, contact project officer Jenny Nobes on +44 (0)121 226 4000 or via email.