>>Time is running out for Independents to drive home their message
The Office of Fair Trading is coming under increased pressure to take a closer look at what is happening in the grocery retail sector - particularly acquisitions in the c-store sector. Last week, representatives of the ACS made their views known; this week it was the turn of the FWD.
On the face of it, their mission seems impossible. After all, the OFT must first be persuaded that its previous decisions have been wrong and then it must agree to take a more sensible approach to future deals.
But it can be done. Those retailers who attended our Top 50 lunch last week heard Littlewoods chairman David Simons explain how he and his team spent months talking to everybody - even those with only the remotest interest in competition matters - about their plan to buy the GUS home shopping business. They lobbied long and they lobbied hard to ensure their message was heard. The independent sector must try to work together on an equally long and hard lobby of not only the OFT but every power broker within Whitehall.
Time is running out. We are expecting news about Morrisons plans for the sale of the neighbourhood Safeway stores it does not want. And if you believe all the rumours you hear, we could also see a big chunk of Iceland stores being sold in the near future. The OFT could soon find itself busier than ever. Let’s hope it gets the message about our industry - before it is too late.
Hats off to the egg industry for persuading Edwina Currie to front part of its marketing campaign this week. It is a fantastic coup and the British Egg Industry Council should be applauded for its chutzpah.
We all know the story of how Currie managed to spark a food scare in December 1988 that destroyed the egg industry almost overnight. Given the campaign we are currently running on The Grocer, that story serves as a timely reminder of how ill-informed spin about food and health can have a huge impact on the industry. That’s why we have launched our campaign. And you must join us in junking the spin - before the industry is the victim of any more clucking disasters.
is it mission impossible?
Clucking hell!
The Office of Fair Trading is coming under increased pressure to take a closer look at what is happening in the grocery retail sector - particularly acquisitions in the c-store sector. Last week, representatives of the ACS made their views known; this week it was the turn of the FWD.
On the face of it, their mission seems impossible. After all, the OFT must first be persuaded that its previous decisions have been wrong and then it must agree to take a more sensible approach to future deals.
But it can be done. Those retailers who attended our Top 50 lunch last week heard Littlewoods chairman David Simons explain how he and his team spent months talking to everybody - even those with only the remotest interest in competition matters - about their plan to buy the GUS home shopping business. They lobbied long and they lobbied hard to ensure their message was heard. The independent sector must try to work together on an equally long and hard lobby of not only the OFT but every power broker within Whitehall.
Time is running out. We are expecting news about Morrisons plans for the sale of the neighbourhood Safeway stores it does not want. And if you believe all the rumours you hear, we could also see a big chunk of Iceland stores being sold in the near future. The OFT could soon find itself busier than ever. Let’s hope it gets the message about our industry - before it is too late.
Hats off to the egg industry for persuading Edwina Currie to front part of its marketing campaign this week. It is a fantastic coup and the British Egg Industry Council should be applauded for its chutzpah.
We all know the story of how Currie managed to spark a food scare in December 1988 that destroyed the egg industry almost overnight. Given the campaign we are currently running on The Grocer, that story serves as a timely reminder of how ill-informed spin about food and health can have a huge impact on the industry. That’s why we have launched our campaign. And you must join us in junking the spin - before the industry is the victim of any more clucking disasters.
is it mission impossible?
Clucking hell!
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