Shortly after taking the helm at the British Retail Consortium as its director-general, Stephen Robertson attacked what he described as the widespread disinformation and myths about the sector.

He may not have been referring to the Office for National Statistics but it is little surprise that the BRC reacted so vociferously to the official figures yesterday, saying that they blurred the real picture.

Mr Robertson wants to build on the work carried out by his predecessor Kevin Hawkins, but he wants to be more pro-active in trumpeting the retail industry’s achievements as its chief champion.

In a chest-thumping piece in the BRC’s in-house Retailer magazine two months ago, he reminded staff at the trade body that retailing has created half a million new jobs since 1995, and that without the efforts made to keep prices low, inflation would be more than double the rate it is now.

On Budget Day, shortly after Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, sat down, Mr Robertson stood up and criticised moves to charge for plastic bags and the idea of raising taxes on alcohol to curb the dramatic rise in underage drinking.

Recently, he gave warning that without a half-point cut in interest rates there could be wide job cuts on the high street.

The new approach reflects Mr Robertson’s marketing and communications background. From his first role at Sara Lee in 1976, much of his time has been spent convincing people to buy things.

From Sara Lee, he moved to Dunlop, then Unilever, Mars and Mattel Toys. At Kingfisher in 1993, he was in charge of marketing at B&Q and led the move to sign up Ellen MacArthur. She later sailed around the world in a yacht named B&Q. He joined the BRC in February after three years at Woolworths, where the retailer launched the Big Red Book – its home shopping catalogue.

The tougher stance from the BRC should help to win over retailers which, given their size and scale, often lobby outside the reach of their trade body and have questioned its effectiveness.

He is aware of the size of the task: “These are tough times and it’s going to be more important than ever that the BRC continues to campaign successfully for a more favourable retail environment. It’s a challenging time for retailers and for me to begin leading the BRC.”

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