The UK’s largest independent toy retailer, The Entertainer, has joined forces with retail industry charity the Retail Trust to introduce a range of new measures to support its employees’ health and wellbeing.
The partnership is set to give over 2,000 employees at The Entertainer, and their families, access to a range of personalised wellbeing resources from the Retail Trust.
This includes access to a virtual GP, digital support, financial aid, counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy, support following a critical incident, discounts and rewards, and the Retail Trust’s 24-hour wellbeing helpline.
Vikki Congiu, store manager at The Entertainer Derby, said: “I recently used Retail Trust’s virtual GP and was very impressed with how easy the service is to use. The service supported my daughter with securing treatment quickly for inflamed skin around the eyes through an online video call with a GP, where she was diagnosed and received a prescription. It’s a benefit of working at The Entertainer that I really appreciate and will definitely use again.”
Over 200 other major British retailers including Dunelm, River Island, Ann Summers and The Works already work with the Retail Trust to help improve the mental health of the retail workforce by supporting their staff and training their managers amidst falling morale across the industry.
A survey of 1,500 retail staff workers the Retail Trust’s Health of Retail report last year found 83% had experienced declining mental health due to concerns around their finances, abuse from customers and poor mental health after working through the pandemic.
Nearly nine out of 10 retail managers also reported an increase in mental health problems among their teams and more than half said their team members have experienced issues that they felt ill-equipped to deal with.
Michelle Akerman Wilkes, HR & systems advisor at The Entertainer, said: “At The Entertainer, our people are our business so we’re very excited to be supporting them with resources from the Retail Trust.
“As part of the project team, Retail Trust ensured the launch was as smooth as possible and it has been fantastic to work with a charity that is so enthusiastic about creating hope, health and happiness for everyone in retail.”
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, added: “We’re partnering with The Entertainer to give its people some of the vital support they need to take control of their wellbeing and look after one another.
“Retailers of all shapes and sizes work with the Retail Trust in this way but we’d encourage even more to join us as retail workers continue to face huge uncertainty around everything from levels of abuse in-store to the rising cost-of-living.”
