George Grundmuller, the head of the Phoenix Group, has stepped down from his influential post as head of the retail division of the Chamber of Commerce ? and handed over the reins to Lawrence Trimingham, president of the department store of the same name.

Mr. Grundmuller held the post of chairman of the division for three and a half years, and said that now was time to step down.

"I announced last year at the annual general meeting that I wanted to step down," said Mr. Grundmuller. "I took over in 2000, which means I have been doing the job for three and a half years now. It was time."

The post is highly influential and involves lobbying and working with Government on behalf of the powerful shop owners across the Island as well as being their official spokesperson, giving one voice to the diverse group.

Mr. Trimingham, who was elected at the 2004 annual general meeting yesterday morning, said he was very pleased to be taking over the post.

"We thank George for leadership for past three years," said Mr. Trimingham. "I have been involved in the executive for a few years now so have been working closely with him.

"This is an opportunity to take a fresh approach. Today (Tuesday) there were some new faces at the meeting which was nice to see and I am looking forward to getting more retailers involved and continuing to work with Government to effect change."

Outgoing chairman Mr. Grundmuller, who will stay on the executive, took over from Ian Smith after he left the Island on short notice, and he stepped into the void.

And he was given a baptism of fire when 9/11 struck, and retailers were left reeling from the effects on their businesses as tourism dried up overnight.

"It was a big challenge for retail," said Mr. Grundmuller, who moved to Bermuda with his Bermudian wife in 1991. "And out of that came the Buy Bermuda campaign, which is one of my proudest achievements as chairman."

The Buy Bermuda campaign, which is usually launched about Christmas time, saw its third year this year and is expected to continue as a reminder to residents that they can shop on Island.

"It was one of the highlights of my term because it found the support of most of the retailers and it was needed at the time with tourism plummeting. Retailers had to refocus and brought attention to retail and some of the challenges we faced."

He said issues such as pricing and service also came to the fore, with retailers realising they had to pull their socks up to survive on mainly the local market.

"I think improving service is a continuous process and people are taking it seriously," he said. "Our customers are not guaranteed."

He said the chamber had run a series of training workshops which had been well attended.

"Retailers have to be aware that the customer does have a choice and does not have to come back if they are not satisfied," he said.

He said he was pleased to have been able to negotiate a payroll tax concession for retailers following the September 11 terrorist attacks, and is sure that without it businesses would have been forced to close as they dealt with the crunch.

But Mr. Grundmuller said he was leaving the post with a few small regrets ? he wished he had managed to get a relaxation of Government policy on opening on public holidays and Sundays as well as tax concessions, especially for the tourist-related stores that have been badly hit by the downturn in tourism in general.

"I have tremendously enjoyed the past three and a half years," he said yesterday. "It has been lots of hours ? one puts in hundreds of hours a year in a job like that. And running the Phoenix Stores is a full time job, so it was all done before or after work or at weekends.

"But I always felt that in your professional life you have to give back to the community."

Mr. Grundmuller thanked members of the executive for their help and support over the years, and said that he would now be spending a bit more time at his post of Councillor at the Corporation of Hamilton ? but said that this was not his first step into the world of politics.

"I have no real ambition to go into politics," he said laughing. "I don't think I would make a good politician. I like things done in an instant, or done yesterday, and I think politics is more about compromise."