David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has been snubbed by UK retail bosses after he tried to call an industry meeting to discuss the pros and cons of exiting the EU.

Davis contacted retail chief executives last week to invite them to a roundtable planned for Thursday, but it is understood that no major industry bosses plan to attend.

One source said: “Chief executives were not willing or able to clear diaries for what looks like a tick-box exercise from the department. There is no substance to the agenda.”

One well-placed source said Davis’s office had issued a form asking attendees to list what they saw as the risks and opportunities of Brexit.

“The way it’s been run is a bit chaotic,” the source said. “It was short notice and that was a big reason why many chief execs couldn’t go.”

One source said Davis’s last-minute invites had been seen as rather rude in expecting bosses to change their plans quite quickly.

Another retail source said there needed to be more “groundwork” before it would be worth engaging on the issue at a chief executive level.

However, retailers are sending along public affairs executives or other more junior executives as they are keen to establish the government’s plans on issues such as labour movement and trade investment.

“We employ a lot of people from overseas who are currently resident in the UK and they have got a high level of anxiety about their future. Some clarity would be helpful,” one retail source said.

Another said: “We are interested in being part of the debate and the conversation.”

Davis and the Department for Exiting the European Union declined to comment on the meeting but last week the Brexit secretary issued a statement in the Commons saying he wanted to “build a national consensus around our negotiating position” by talking to “as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible – from the large PLCs to small business, from the devolved administrations through to councils, local government associations and the major metropolitan bodies”.

He also told a Lords select committee that it was going to take “some months” to analyse many of the industrial and commercial effects of Brexit.