from Tony Rogers, chairman, VA Whitley & Co, foodservice supplier

Sir; The crie de coeur uttered by Richard Brittle (The Saturday Essay, The Grocer, October 15, p32) was most apposite.
Ever since an accountant was made head of Rolls Royce in the 1970s (it went bankrupt within two years), things have been on the slide.
Stock is not dead money. Certainly stock controls are essential and no company needs lines that do not move.
However, when a multi-national manufacturer requests you take 26 pallets 10 days early to meet its targets, then fails to deliver for three weeks because there’s no product
in the country, we are getting too sophisticated for our own good.
Business is essentially simple - the right quality products delivered at the right price, as promised, on time.
There is a no more basic truth than the fact that if you haven’t got it, you can’t sell it.