Leading Edge seminars offer key insights says Ronan Hegarty
One of the key benefits of being a member of Leading Edge, IGD’s networking group for young grocery professionals, is that it allows you to attend seminars exploring the trading issues affecting the industry today. And the last series of 10 seminars covering retailer consolidation proved particularly timely as it ran in the weeks surrounding the official takeover of Safeway by Morrisons. Little wonder that the seminars, which took place at venues across the country, attracted 300 people from retailer and supplier companies.
Nick Everitt, senior business analyst IGD, kicked off the debates by explaining the background to the Safeway deal.
He said: “The UK grocery sector is a very mature and stable market in terms of volume so the main retailers need to take share from competitors in order to grow their business. One very effective way of doing this is consolidation.”
He said the regulatory doctrine employed by the OFT in its decision to allow Morrisons’ bid for Safeway to go through signalled the end of any further consolidation between the UK multiples.
He also predicted that unless the OFT reversed its decision to regard the supermarkets and convenience stores as two separate markets, then the c-store sector would continue to be the key battleground in terms of consolidation.
As well as providing hard information in presentations such as Everitt’s, Leading Edge seminars are also a great forum for young professionals to get together and discuss such issues in an informal way, which in turn can lead to a greater understanding of each other’s businesses.
Not surprisingly, there was plenty of heated debate among members about the Safeway deal at the seminar in Windsor that The Grocer attended, which took place soon after the takeover went through. At that time, Morrisons had given very little detail about its plans for Safeway and comments from several suppliers reflected the deep concern that many felt in the immediate aftermath of the merger.
Concerned suppliers were pleased to find some employees of Safeway attending the seminar and took the opportunity to raise some of their concerns regarding the impact of the takeover on them.
One supplier at the Windsor event found this face-to-face contact invaluable. He said: “We currently supply Safeway but not Morrisons and have found it difficult to contact anyone involved in Safeway to find out what is happening. At least now I have an idea of what is going on and when we will find out some more details.”
Events have moved on apace since the Windsor seminar, but this experience shows the value of informal networking events. That’s what makes the seminars very worthwhile, say Leading Edge members.
Many attending the meeting in Windsor were attending a Leading Edge event for the first time. One member said: “A number of us have been trying to get to a Leading Edge seminar for about 18 months but something usually comes up to prevent us from doing so. We were determined to come to this one as consolidation impacts on everyone in the industry. The seminar was very informative and I have a much greater understanding of everything that is going on.”
One of the key benefits of being a member of Leading Edge, IGD’s networking group for young grocery professionals, is that it allows you to attend seminars exploring the trading issues affecting the industry today. And the last series of 10 seminars covering retailer consolidation proved particularly timely as it ran in the weeks surrounding the official takeover of Safeway by Morrisons. Little wonder that the seminars, which took place at venues across the country, attracted 300 people from retailer and supplier companies.
Nick Everitt, senior business analyst IGD, kicked off the debates by explaining the background to the Safeway deal.
He said: “The UK grocery sector is a very mature and stable market in terms of volume so the main retailers need to take share from competitors in order to grow their business. One very effective way of doing this is consolidation.”
He said the regulatory doctrine employed by the OFT in its decision to allow Morrisons’ bid for Safeway to go through signalled the end of any further consolidation between the UK multiples.
He also predicted that unless the OFT reversed its decision to regard the supermarkets and convenience stores as two separate markets, then the c-store sector would continue to be the key battleground in terms of consolidation.
As well as providing hard information in presentations such as Everitt’s, Leading Edge seminars are also a great forum for young professionals to get together and discuss such issues in an informal way, which in turn can lead to a greater understanding of each other’s businesses.
Not surprisingly, there was plenty of heated debate among members about the Safeway deal at the seminar in Windsor that The Grocer attended, which took place soon after the takeover went through. At that time, Morrisons had given very little detail about its plans for Safeway and comments from several suppliers reflected the deep concern that many felt in the immediate aftermath of the merger.
Concerned suppliers were pleased to find some employees of Safeway attending the seminar and took the opportunity to raise some of their concerns regarding the impact of the takeover on them.
One supplier at the Windsor event found this face-to-face contact invaluable. He said: “We currently supply Safeway but not Morrisons and have found it difficult to contact anyone involved in Safeway to find out what is happening. At least now I have an idea of what is going on and when we will find out some more details.”
Events have moved on apace since the Windsor seminar, but this experience shows the value of informal networking events. That’s what makes the seminars very worthwhile, say Leading Edge members.
Many attending the meeting in Windsor were attending a Leading Edge event for the first time. One member said: “A number of us have been trying to get to a Leading Edge seminar for about 18 months but something usually comes up to prevent us from doing so. We were determined to come to this one as consolidation impacts on everyone in the industry. The seminar was very informative and I have a much greater understanding of everything that is going on.”
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