As a VM consultant, I am only too aware of the growing importance of retailers' commitment to CSR and in particular, to helping reduce their carbon emissions. However, I think that occasionally these laudable intentions can come at the cost of that other crucial element of retail life - good customer service.

I recently purchased a trolley full of decorating equipment in Homebase Stamford, (£270 worth to be precise) and when I asked the cashier for some carrier bags or used boxes to transport the products safely home, I was offered a 99p reusable bag, being told no others were available as it was now the companies policy to stock other 'free' bags. When I protested, I was eventually offered a plant bag - complete with a big hole in the bottom. Not very suitable for paint or the other 30-plus items I had purchased, I thought, and the manager looked a little awkward at his suggestion too.

I commend Homebase for its commitment to reducing Co2 emissions, but can't a healthy amount of common sense and customer service be part of this equation too?

Karl McKeever

Visual Merchandising Consultant

Leicestershire

== Obituary Marilyn Roffey ==

Marilyn Roffey, one of the shopping centre industry's leading marketing consultants, has died after a long battle against cancer.

Her funeral, packed with friends and colleagues from across the industry, was held at Randalls Park Crematorium in Leatherhead and afterwards at the nearby Woodlands Park Hotel.

Marilyn came to the UK from her native New Zealand as a young graduate, met her future husband Bill and decided to stay. She began her marketing career in the drinks industry, but it was in the 1990s that she first became involved with shopping centres, eventually setting up her own business, The Enterprise Company.

Over the years she advised centres including the Trocadero in London and Broad Street Mall in Reading.

Most recently she worked with Cushman & Wakefield on its centres in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as advising Bracknell Forest council on the town's regeneration.

Helen Barnett, who heads marketing at the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, said: "She was an inspiration to anyone who knew her. She dealt with everything in her life, her business, her work, events and especially her illness in the most outstanding way."

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