All articles by Steve Parfett
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Comment and Opinion
A grocer’s life: how wholesale has got faster and smarter
In his final column for The Grocer, retiring wholesale legend Steve Parfett looks back on his 40 years in the grocery trade
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Comment and Opinion
Lessons from the Pret and Patisserie Valerie scandals
Recent events at Patisserie Valerie and Pret tell us to expect the unexpected, says Steve Parfett of AG Parfett & Sons
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Comment and Opinion
Can the CMA deal with Sainsbury's-Asda after failing on Tesco-Booker?
The CMA ignored long-term effects of Tesco-Booker and hastened the demise of P&H as collateral damage, says Steve Parfett, chairman of AG Parfett & Sons
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Comment and Opinion
Government is playing to the gallery on recycling
We need proper incentives for on-shore recycling facilities and for using the resulting recycled product, says Steve Parfett of AG Parfett & Sons
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Comment and Opinion
Gareth Southgate's principled England team has much to teach businesses
Businesses, like football teams, must achieve a balanced approach to succeed, says Steve Parfett
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Comment and Opinion
How employee ownership has driven sustainable expansion at Parfetts
I have no regrets about our decision to choose the employee ownership route, says Parfetts chairman Steve Parfett
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Comment and Opinion
The 'Ultra Urban' convenience concept is changing retail
Innovative new retail concepts like Ancoats General Store and Clayton Park Deli are using food to go to appeal to a young, ultra urban crowd, says Steve Parfett
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Comment and Opinion
Suppliers face a stark choice on Sainsbury's-Asda merger
Wholesale and retail are now effectively one market for procurement and we have a duopoly in the retail market, says Steve Parfett of AG Parfett & Sons
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Comment and Opinion
Commit to closing the gender pay gap
I am delighted that Parfetts is one of the 8% of companies reporting a zero gender pay gap at the median level
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Comment and Opinion
Newsagents need support from publishers and wholesalers
I have written before about the multiplicity of tasks facing small retailers, but some of the most challenging are in CTNs
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Comment and Opinion
Strategic responses to the Tesco-Booker deal
Post Tesco-Booker there will be one market, as opposed to the uneasy truce of a separation between retail and wholesale
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Comment and Opinion
Let's show bottle on plastic waste
The Grocer’s efforts in 2017 to concentrate our industry’s collective mind on waste, and food waste in particular, are timely
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Comment and Opinion
The CMA is to blame for P&H's demise
The CMA’s handling of the Tesco-Booker inquiry – and its impact on P&H – shows it doesn’t know what it’s doing
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Comment and Opinion
People should be every business's number one priority
Four recent events have turned my thoughts to why treating people properly is so important, says Steve Parfett of AG Parfett & Sons
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Comment and Opinion
A dazzling store with heart
On a visit to London, I took time out to visit a flagship retailer for the independent sector
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Comment and Opinion
Where is the tea-to-go?
The original national drink here seems to me to have been left languishing in the doldrums
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Comment and Opinion
You are wrong, wrong, wrong on Tesco-Booker, CMA!
I am furious that, even at this second stage, the CMA has completely and utterly failed to grasp the key issues
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Comment and Opinion
The merits of cooperation
Competition in the grocery trade is notoriously fierce, and rightly so
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Comment and Opinion
Owning wholesale will embed big four in almost total dominance
We have very early notice of the consequences for the entire grocery sector of failing to stop Tesco-Booker
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Comment and Opinion
Wholesale can nurture local
On previous occasions I have alluded to my affection for North Wales, and we were there again at the weekend