Julian Hunt Tesco has set up a new team to look at ways of improving availability in its stores. The team is believed to comprise executives drawn from across different business functions. Tesco is playing down the news. A spokesman for the multiple said: "We constantly have teams working on availability and the supply chain. There is no specific activity at the moment." However, Tesco suppliers have been briefed about the new initiative. One told us: "I understand the project will last for a limited period ­ perhaps as little as 12 weeks. The team will try to identify what, if anything, is wrong and then come up with possible solutions." Another supplier said: "There are a lot of people working on this and it is being championed from the top. They are putting a lot more focus on this problem." The new focus on the issue may stem from the experience of Tesco's board members who, we understand, recently spent time in stores working as general assistants. The fact Tesco uses its stores to fulfil orders placed via the internet has highlighted the problems of products being out of stock, according to a number of suppliers. One said: "Tesco.com gives them a true state of affairs when it comes to availability." Analysts agree. One said there was anecdotal evidence to suggest Tesco.com suffered from poor availability. However, the analyst felt Tesco was no worse than any of its rivals when it came to the problem of out of stocks. "It is really difficult to assess," he added, "Because there is no league table for out of stocks." The launch of the availability project follows a number of other internal Tesco initiatives designed to improve the ambience of its stores and drive its sales performance. These initiatives have included one to clear unneccesary clutter from stores and another ­ dubbed Drain the Swamp ­ which was a housekeeping exercise across Tesco's supply chain. l See Opinion, p16. {{NEWS }}

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