Ahead of the new Offensive Weapons Act, BHETA, which represents many of the leading UK suppliers of housewares has been invited to join Scotland Yard’s retailer steering group.
The involvement follows several informal conversations, together with BHETA’s success in securing the extension of the Challenge 25 initiative from alcohol sales to cover the purchase of other age restricted goods, specifically the responsible retailing of kitchen knives.
The application of Challenge 25 to kitchen knives will not only include point of sale items as in the original campaign but will for the first time include supplier packaging and distribution company outer packaging. The fact that this can now carry the Challenge 25 graphics as well, makes in store enforcement and delivery enforcement easier for retail and distribution company staff. It is this latter development which has interested Scotland Yard as part of its production of training resources to help reduce the theft and underage sales of knives in conjunction with the National Business Crime Centre [NBCC], Trading Standards and Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (London).
BHETA’s Marketing Manager Steve Richardson who together with BHETA’s President Alastair Fisher has attended a number of police consultations on responsible knife retailing commented,
“BHETA has secured the opportunity to co-ordinate a package of Challenge 25 collateral for retailers and their distribution partners which meets the needs and expectations of everyone involved including the police and trading standards. Designs are being produced and we hope to be able to gain the agreement of all parties involved. Working with Scotland Yard on the project is clearly a major opportunity to create a hard-hitting campaign representative of the whole industry. BHETA’s objective is to ensure members are fully compliant with future legislation while safeguarding the legitimate purchase of kitchen knives and cutlery.”
BHETA’s involvement follows its initiation of a consultative taskforce comprising most of the top kitchen knife retailers and suppliers, including John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lakeland, Dunelm, Steamer Trading, T K Maxx, Elys of Wimbledon, Harts of Stur, Taylor’s Eye Witness, Amefa, Fiskars, Meyer, Haus, Burton McCall, Kuhn Rikon, Rayware and Robert Welch.
The Metropolitan Police Service, has produced a range of training resources, available on the NBCC website www.nbcc.police.uk/knifeguidance.
For more information about BHETA, BHETA lobbying and the BHETA responsible knife retailing campaign and BHETA lobbying, contact the Member Services Team on 0121 237 1130.
Source:BHETA
October 2019