Retailers in top deal peers mishandled (12)
I believe the answer is:
tradespeople
'retailers' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'top deal peers mishandled' is the wordplay.
'mishandled' indicates an anagram.
'top'+'deal'+'peers'='topdealpeers'
'topdealpeers' with letters rearranged gives 'TRADESPEOPLE'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tradespeople that I've seen before include "folk in business" , "Skilled workers" , "Eg, shopkeepers" .)