Independent retailers have slammed Asda boss Andy Bond for claiming that competition chiefs are “shooting at the wrong target” by concentrating their current interest in the grocery sector on c-stores.
The Asda chief executive said he wanted to see the OFT focus on tightening the planning laws to curtail Tesco’s growth. He added: “We want the c-store inquiry out of the way so we can start to talk about planning. Then we can get on with the real debate about choice.”
Bond’s comments in a newspaper were condemned by members of The Grocer’s Top 50 leading independents.
Bob Surridge, MD of Anglian Convenience Stores, said: “I cannot see how changing the planning laws in isolation will help. Bond talks about competition, but everyone in the industry knows that the independent cannot possibly compete on price and needs a certain amount of protection if we are to avoid the terminal decline of the small business.”
Adrian Costain, managing director of Pareto Retail, said: “Bond appears to suggest that only companies with market power should be considered worthy of protection.”
A leading member of The Grocer’s Top 50 added: “Bond is trying to divert attention away from the real issue of market definition and is seeking an alteration to the planning law that will favour the development of Asda instead of Tesco.”
An Asda spokeswoman told The Grocer: “Andy said that he thinks the planning regime needs to be tightened. The unintended consequence of the present system is that it limits customer choice.”
Northern Irish crisp supplier Tayto has emerged as the preferred bidder for Golden Wonder’s Scunthorpe operation. Tayto, which was one of three parties shortlisted by administrators Kroll, has now moved into exclusive talks to buy the Scunthorpe operation as a going concern, including all own label and brand operations.
Sainsbury has fired the starter gun on the second round of its Active Kids scheme to raise money for school sports. This year the campaign is placing greater emphasis on healthy food, with extra vouchers being offered for money spent on goods marked with a healthy apple stamp.
Tesco is also continuing its scheme into 2006.
The green light has been given by chief executive Andy Bond to the roll out of the non food Living format. Five stores have been tested over the past 18 months and there are already plans to open another 15 Living stores before the end of the year.
The cost of crime at the Co-operative societies has shot up by 20% over the past year, despite the number of incidents dropping. A survey of 2,972 stores in 18 societies found that the total number of incidents was down 4% to 34,528 in 2004/5 but total recorded losses rose from £3.5m in 2003/4 to £4.2m.
Simon Mowbray
Tayto preferred
second burst
living rolls out
Crime? don’t call
richer hauls
The Asda chief executive said he wanted to see the OFT focus on tightening the planning laws to curtail Tesco’s growth. He added: “We want the c-store inquiry out of the way so we can start to talk about planning. Then we can get on with the real debate about choice.”
Bond’s comments in a newspaper were condemned by members of The Grocer’s Top 50 leading independents.
Bob Surridge, MD of Anglian Convenience Stores, said: “I cannot see how changing the planning laws in isolation will help. Bond talks about competition, but everyone in the industry knows that the independent cannot possibly compete on price and needs a certain amount of protection if we are to avoid the terminal decline of the small business.”
Adrian Costain, managing director of Pareto Retail, said: “Bond appears to suggest that only companies with market power should be considered worthy of protection.”
A leading member of The Grocer’s Top 50 added: “Bond is trying to divert attention away from the real issue of market definition and is seeking an alteration to the planning law that will favour the development of Asda instead of Tesco.”
An Asda spokeswoman told The Grocer: “Andy said that he thinks the planning regime needs to be tightened. The unintended consequence of the present system is that it limits customer choice.”
Northern Irish crisp supplier Tayto has emerged as the preferred bidder for Golden Wonder’s Scunthorpe operation. Tayto, which was one of three parties shortlisted by administrators Kroll, has now moved into exclusive talks to buy the Scunthorpe operation as a going concern, including all own label and brand operations.
Sainsbury has fired the starter gun on the second round of its Active Kids scheme to raise money for school sports. This year the campaign is placing greater emphasis on healthy food, with extra vouchers being offered for money spent on goods marked with a healthy apple stamp.
Tesco is also continuing its scheme into 2006.
The green light has been given by chief executive Andy Bond to the roll out of the non food Living format. Five stores have been tested over the past 18 months and there are already plans to open another 15 Living stores before the end of the year.
The cost of crime at the Co-operative societies has shot up by 20% over the past year, despite the number of incidents dropping. A survey of 2,972 stores in 18 societies found that the total number of incidents was down 4% to 34,528 in 2004/5 but total recorded losses rose from £3.5m in 2003/4 to £4.2m.
Simon Mowbray
Tayto preferred
second burst
living rolls out
Crime? don’t call
richer hauls
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