tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post8195679455366490981..comments2024-01-30T09:22:08.167+00:00Comments on Newmania In Lewes: But Zac....We Like Supermarkets !Newmaniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-89585820297265685982007-09-13T01:04:00.000+01:002007-09-13T01:04:00.000+01:00Thankfully, few SMEs behave like the those exposed...Thankfully, few SMEs behave like the those exposed by the Guardian investigation.<BR/><BR/>My company, like millions of others, jumps through hoops to comply with the government's constant stream of - continually revised, badly drafted, irrational and contradictory - requirements under the Asylum and Immigration/prevention of illegal working legislation. <BR/><BR/>How contadictory has the legislation been?<BR/><BR/>To parahrase page 3 of Home Office guidance booklet: employers should ensure that ID documents are prescribed documents, genuine and relate to the person presenting them.<BR/><BR/>To paraphrase page 15 of the same booklet: Employers should be able to rely on National Insurance documents for ID(!)<BR/><BR/>Given the confusion with which the Home Office has shrouded the law on the prevention of illegal working and the way the supermarkets squeeze blood out of their SME suppliers - and their larger suppliers too, remember the battle of Tesco V Nescafe? - there's obviously a danger that the combined effect will lead to some of the weaker or crooked SMEs breaking the law and employing illegals.<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-46429200372664463002007-09-13T00:30:00.000+01:002007-09-13T00:30:00.000+01:00Guardian investigation, the supermarket's response...Guardian investigation, the supermarket's response:<BR/><BR/>Tesco said it was surprised by the allegations since a recent independent audit of Natures Way had not highlighted any of the issues raised. <BR/><BR/>"We take our responsibilities in this area very seriously and while we don't pretend to get things right every time we always act swiftly if any issues are identified," the company said. <BR/><BR/>It denied that supermarket ordering practices had led to poor practice and said that it had worked to raise standards, including labour standards, in the industry. <BR/><BR/>McDonald's said it too expected suppliers to comply with clear codes of practice on labour and conducted independent audits on their performance but would investigate the Guardian's findings. <BR/><BR/>Sainsbury's said it was very concerned to hear of the allegations and had launched an immediate investigation. An independent audit of the suppliers highlighted had already been arranged.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-72351739723397098802007-09-13T00:26:00.000+01:002007-09-13T00:26:00.000+01:00You think that regulating the supermarkets more to...You think that regulating the supermarkets more to compensate?<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Ed - Large companies love regulation because it is copiable and they can afford the sytems with huge economies of scale as compeared to small rivals . This keeps entrants out of the market. THis keffect os certainly teu anmd god knows I have suffered from itNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-77326953457712018222007-09-13T00:24:00.000+01:002007-09-13T00:24:00.000+01:00Guardian investigation (continued)Georgi said he h...Guardian investigation (continued)<BR/><BR/>Georgi said he had arranged work before arriving in the UK..."<BR/><BR/>Because of my problems with a visa, Advance paid me very low wages, £200 for 72 hours," he said. That amounts to £2.77 an hour when the minimum wage at the time was £4.50. <BR/><BR/>Georgi said he had been working these long hours each week for over four months on the salad production lines: <BR/><BR/>"The worst is I am never sure that I'm going to get paid. It happens to a lot of people." He also said he paid no tax or insurance but had £48 weekly rent deducted from his wages for a bed in a maisonette he shared in Selsey with six other men. <BR/><BR/>He said he was afraid to talk about his circumstances. He had handed over the equivalent of nearly £1,000 to a Bulgarian agency in Sofia to fix his visa. <BR/><BR/>Advance Recruitment is registered as Advance Employment Services, and its managing director in Sussex is a Russian ex-military officer called Anatoly Bespaly. He said that he supplied the Natures Way operation in Selsey with an average of 150 workers, drawn from 19 nationalities including Chinese, Russians, Poles, Portuguese, Bulgarians, Iraqis and Afghans. <BR/><BR/>The Guardian has seen the wage slips of several Chinese workers from Advance Recruitment showing false names and false national insurance numbers, for work at Natures Way. Some workers were using photocopied work permits bought for £50. They said they were frightened to make any complaint and alleged that Mr Bespaly's organisation used harsh methods to keep workers in order. <BR/><BR/>Both Chinese workers and the Bulgarian said that they had heard of other workers being beaten by Mr Bespaly's bodyguards when they complained about their wages not being paid in full. <BR/><BR/>"Anatoly made deductions from wages. Sometimes people refused to take it. On one occasion, an Iraqi worker got very upset and started to argue with Anatoly. Anatoly got four or five Russian men to beat him up," one Chinese worker said. <BR/><BR/>Others described hearing of similar incidents with Brazilian and Afghan workers. They had not been beaten themselves, but - whether their fears were justified or not - they were still afraid that the same thing might happen to them, and said Mr Bespaly's managers frequently used threatening language. <BR/><BR/>A house of seven Chinese workers said they were evicted without notice last year, told they could no longer work and were forced to leave the area.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-9860355915245907542007-09-13T00:17:00.000+01:002007-09-13T00:17:00.000+01:00The precarious existence of the thousands in Brita...The precarious existence of the thousands in Britain's underclass <BR/><BR/>An investigation by the Guardian's Felicity Lawrence into UK's underworld economy January 10, 2005<BR/><BR/><BR/>"One of the leading companies involved in food production in Sussex is Natures Way Foods. It washes and packs over 14bn salad leaves a year for British consumers. <BR/><BR/>Set up in 1994 at the suggestion of Tesco to supply all its branches with salad, it depends on migrant labour. It employs many of its local and foreign workers direct but it and its sister companies have also used a succession of agencies or gangmasters over the years. <BR/><BR/>The Natures Way website boasts of the "phenomenal growth" the company has achieved with backing from Tesco: "Our first four years were so successful... our business doubled in size every year ... In December 1999 we were placed 29th in the Fast Track 100 of the country's fastest growing companies.<BR/><BR/>Natures Way has invested in the latest technology and logistics to respond to the new business model of "just-in-time" ordering developed by its customers, the supermarkets and fast food chains. The technique, where nothing is kept in stock, is used in many sectors and has helped drive prices down and keep inflation low. It has also enabled British companies to compete in an age of globalisation with other countries where labour rights are rudimentary. <BR/><BR/>As a supplier to the supermarkets Natures Way has to cope with huge and often last-minute fluctuations in orders. This reduces the retailers' risk of under- or over-supply to a minimum by transferring it down the line. <BR/><BR/>To help it respond to constantly changing demand, Natures Way, in addition to its substantial directly employed workforce, has relied upon a flexible workforce, with migrants prepared to work long and unpredictable hours and gangmasters able to move them around the country at short notice. <BR/><BR/>It says it "strives to achieve the highest standards in staff recruitment and employment practices and would never knowingly use illegal labour". <BR/><BR/>Its current gangmasters similarly say that they work closely with immigration, tax and other authorities to make sure that their employment practices comply with the law. <BR/><BR/>But despite these safeguards, it did not take long in Selsey to meet migrant workers doing shifts at Natures Way who admit working without proper papers through gangmasters, and who also claim to be victims of some form of abuse. Migrants working here with legitimate visas or EU rights also claim to be victims of abusive employment at the hands of gangmasters. <BR/><BR/>Georgi was among a group of Bulgarian workers interviewed by the Guardian who were being supplied to Natures Way by one of its principal gangmasters, Advance Recruitment. They had arrived on business visas for the skilled self-employed but were packing salad for Tesco. <BR/><BR/>Skilled self-employed business visas were the subject of a scandal earlier this year when a British diplomat blew the whistle on scams in Bulgaria and Romania, which famously included a one-legged Romanian obtaining a visa as a self-employed roofer"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-23991183347332416332007-09-12T23:58:00.000+01:002007-09-12T23:58:00.000+01:00Ed said:You think that [we should be?] regulating ...Ed said:<BR/><BR/>You think that [we should be?] regulating the supermarkets more to compensate?<BR/><BR/><BR/>The crux of the problem with the supermarkets is that they have far too much commercial and political power - and this has made some of them very ruthless indeed.<BR/><BR/>Over-regulation is a topic in itself which I hope newmania will look at sometime, however, in the meantime, let me tell you what happened to a hard working SME owner friend of mine - not me, than God.<BR/><BR/>My friend supplies one of the big four supermarkets. The contract initially turned over about £200 a week at a 20% gross profit margin. I would imagine that netted down to about £10-20 a week pre tax profit after overheads. The sup paid very promptly at that stage.<BR/><BR/>The sup encouraged my friend to increase production until eventually the contract was turning over about £10,000 a week. <BR/><BR/>Even if he hadn't been seduced by the size of the contract offered, my friend would have been hard pressed to find enough business elsewhere as the supermarkets now tend to monopolise demand in the sort of merchandise he supplies.<BR/><BR/>My friend had to focus most of his production on supplying the large volume of very high quality goods and constantly changing specifications required. He took on extra staff and machinery to do the work and lost a number of contracts he'd had for years. But the sup assured him that there would be long term work for him at a reasonable rate of return.<BR/><BR/>However, then the sup's payments began to slow down until there was a backlog of £200,000 outstanding, which gave my friend dire cash flow problems.<BR/><BR/>The response of the sup to my friend's approach for payment was to slap a new contract on him. This put an agent company between the sup and my friend's SME. <BR/><BR/>The new contract halved my friend's profit margin to an unsustainable level and gave the sup and their agent the RIGHT TO DELAY OR WITHHOLD PAYMENTS FOR AS LONG AS IT SUITED THEM. When my friend objected, he was told, tough, that's the way it is. <BR/><BR/>With £200,000 owed, my friend felt in no position to argue.<BR/><BR/>The agent later notified my friend that there'd been a paperwork error - the agent's or sup's error, not my friend's. This had resulted in a duplicated order and 'unfortunately' my friend could not be paid for thousands of pounds worth of goods supplied under a written purchase order. <BR/><BR/>The losses involved mean my friend will make ALMOST NO PROFIT ON THE CONTRACT FOR ALMOST A YEAR'S SWEATED LABOUR. My friend demanded full payment but the agent simply deducted the sum from my friend's next remittance. <BR/><BR/>Now my friend has lost so much other business for this contract that he has to continue supplying the customer just to keep turnover coming in.<BR/><BR/>My friend says he's been lured into a contractual trap by people who are no better than crooks. Yet the supermarket concerned is a well respected household name. <BR/><BR/>It's not a question of regulation, Ed, there already are regulations and the County Courts to protect SMEs against this form of destructive ruthlessness by monopolistic supermarkets. The problem is that the SMEs cannot afford to - and don't dare to - take on these giants.<BR/><BR/>The only answer lies in controlling the monopolistic growth of these companies because that's what makes them so all powerful.<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-44165232728980047312007-09-12T09:11:00.000+01:002007-09-12T09:11:00.000+01:00Why are so many SME's going bust under nulab?Over-...<I>Why are so many SME's going bust under nulab?<BR/><BR/>Over-regulation is obviously a major factor.</I><BR/><BR/>You think that regulating the supermarkets more to compensate?<BR/><BR/>As Andrew Boff says if we are not for liberty we are for nothing.Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-54973246522648633952007-09-12T08:56:00.000+01:002007-09-12T08:56:00.000+01:00I read all that with huge interest Flo , if the pa...I read all that with huge interest Flo , if the past is anyhting to go by I will be quoting most of it as my own later. Thanks , fascinating stuffNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-68283495062055997552007-09-12T01:57:00.000+01:002007-09-12T01:57:00.000+01:00Why are so many SME's going bust under nulab?Over-...Why are so many SME's going bust under nulab?<BR/><BR/>Over-regulation is obviously a major factor.<BR/><BR/>However, there's a common fallacy, the one proliferated by the supermarkets, that SME's are too over-priced and too inefficient to survive, that they cannot compete with the super efficient multinationals. <BR/><BR/>YET WHO....<BR/><BR/>Grows the supermarket's crops, fruit and vegetables?<BR/>Husbands their meat and dairy foods?<BR/>Slaughters livestock for the sup's shelves?<BR/>Cans their products?<BR/>Washes and packs their fruit, salads and vegetables?<BR/>Manufactures their consumer durables?<BR/>Manufactures the 'own brands'?<BR/>Processes their processed foods?<BR/>Packs their goods?<BR/>Loads their lorries?<BR/>Staffs their warehouses?<BR/>Staffs their offices?<BR/>Drives their HGVs and delivers produce to their stores<BR/>Runs their accounts and pays their suppliers<BR/><BR/>Thousands of super efficient SMEs, that's who. That's why I said in my first posting that the giants are not supermarkets.<BR/><BR/>SMEs ARE THE REAL SUPERMARKETS.<BR/><BR/>Few are aware of the reality of the depth of the relationship between SMEs and the supermarkets. <BR/><BR/>SUPERMARKETS ARE OPERATIONALLY DEPENDENT ON SME's, who's efficiency, flexibility, specialist expertise and exemplary cost control they can never match. It is super efficient SMEs which underpin the supermarket's success and which are the primary factor securing cheap prices for the consumer.<BR/><BR/>The level of this dependency on SMEs has become so pronounced in recent years that it frightens the daylights out of the supermarkets. In response, and in their quest for ever greater profits, the supermarkets require a level of, highly damaging, control of SMEs which is akin to taking over SMEs' businesses and running them on the, less successful, supermarket model. And that's one of the major reasons why so many SME's and their SME supply chains are struggling.<BR/><BR/>The other irony is that, without the business of the most maligned SMEs of all, the SMALL SHOPS sneered at by the giants, to offset the punitive margins demanded by the supermarkets, few of the supermarket's SME suppliers could continue trading.<BR/><BR/>So, if the supermarkets do finish off small shops and many other SMEs by 2015 as predicted, they will be cutting their own throats - and with them, yours, the consumers'<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-19475469520152387562007-09-12T00:43:00.000+01:002007-09-12T00:43:00.000+01:00Ed said:for the first time the UK got proper compe...Ed said:<BR/><BR/>for the first time the UK got proper competition legislation on the level of the US model. Because that is one of the few things that the EU treaty is good for.<BR/><BR/><BR/>"OFT probe clears supermarkets <BR/>04/08/2005 <BR/><BR/> <BR/>Businesses have harshly criticised a government watchdog's ruling that no change is needed in the way supermarkets conduct business with their suppliers. <BR/><BR/>The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday claimed there is no clear evidence that the Supermarkets Code of Practice is not working and that competition in the market for the supply of groceries is being restricted. It did concede that the Code could be used more effectively. <BR/><BR/>Business groups, however, slammed the decision. <BR/><BR/>"The code is toothless, and vague proposals to use it more effectively will not make it bite," said Duncan Swift, head of Grant Thornton's food and agribusiness recovery group. "The OFT seems undecided whether to use carrot or stick in its drive to improve the code." <BR/><BR/>The result was branded a 'whitewash' by the National Farmers Union for Scotland (NFUS). <BR/><BR/>The union declared that the study was flawed because the OFT will never receive on-the-record complaints from suppliers about unfair supermarket trading practices because it does not offer any protection to those who may be willing to raise their voice. <BR/><BR/>The OFT received 29 responses to its invitation for comments in its investigation. <BR/><BR/>"I am astonished that the OFT can continue to claim there is no evidence that the supermarket code needs changed and that the market is working well for consumers," said NFUS president John Kinnaird. <BR/><BR/>"We sent them exactly that evidence, but again, the OFT has chosen to ignore it because we didn't put the names of the companies suffering from the disgraceful trading tactics in our evidence." <BR/><BR/>Kinnaird said that supplier fear of losing supermarket contracts as a result of complaining is so pervasive that the Supermarkets Code of Practice is never used. <BR/><BR/>The Code, which applies to Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco, would be better enhanced by greater use of written records of dealings between supermarkets and their suppliers and clear evidence of breaches, rather than general allegations, the OFT said. <BR/><BR/>OFT chairman John Vickers said that an independent ombudsman, as some groups have called for, would also require complaints to be transparent and sourced. <BR/><BR/>"Natural justice and common sense do not allow regulatory intervention in markets without proper evidence," he added."<BR/><BR/><BR/>Also, if the new regs are working, why does tesco have 31.5% of the market? That fact alone suggests to me that the regs are not working and that nor is the oft.<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-23232236208175063882007-09-12T00:24:00.000+01:002007-09-12T00:24:00.000+01:00Newmania said... Nope sorry Flo I am not going to ...Newmania said... <BR/><BR/>Nope sorry Flo I am not going to be changing the world with my shopping . If they sell it I will buy it you `ve disappeared into concerned Liberal land for me there . <BR/><BR/><BR/>Demanding better conditions for Chinese workers could help to level the playing field a little between China and UK - so it could save UK workers' jobs. I've twice quietly suggested this, yet no one seems to have picked this up, n.<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-12137410552206175962007-09-12T00:17:00.000+01:002007-09-12T00:17:00.000+01:00Nope sorry Flo I am not going to be changing the w...Nope sorry Flo I am not going to be changing the world with my shopping . If they sell it I will buy it you `ve disappeared into concerned Liberal land for me there .Newmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-76272255446863911222007-09-11T23:16:00.000+01:002007-09-11T23:16:00.000+01:00Ed said... Flo, aren't Chinese employment "rights"...Ed said... <BR/>Flo, aren't Chinese employment "rights" up to the Chinese? <BR/><BR/><BR/>Entirely. But it is up to us, as consumers of the cheap goods produced under such inhuman conditions to decide if we are prepared to accept that - or if we should be demanding better conditions for those workers as a precondition of supply. It would boost our own manufacturing too :)<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-20917034968086653942007-09-11T22:55:00.000+01:002007-09-11T22:55:00.000+01:00Because that is one of the few things that the EU ...Because that is one of the few things that the EU treaty is good for and our new regime is a reflection of that sensible regime. France has the same law, so does Poland, Spain etc<BR/><BR/><BR/>Actually Ed Croydonian did a Blog on EU competition laws a while ago and it all looked distinctly useless to me .Remeber in Europe they do not have competition as we do they are nothing like as open and my impression was that it had to be watered down to accomodate this .<BR/><BR/>Is this another thing where the EU are to blame then. I `d have to tap Mr. C for the details but I certainly do not remember it the way you said it .<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Flo while I have great areas of agreement with you I am as you know somewhat to the right of you on many issues .....we both like Boris but then he does have that ability that the News Statesman noted to unite a very wide range of Conservatives...and now I am going to watch his inteview on DOughty StreetNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-61071295607270637832007-09-11T22:16:00.000+01:002007-09-11T22:16:00.000+01:00Flo, aren't Chinese employment "rights" up to the ...Flo, aren't Chinese employment "rights" up to the Chinese?Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-45119552899311209402007-09-11T22:15:00.000+01:002007-09-11T22:15:00.000+01:00newmania said:I think there is a distinct suspicio...newmania said:<BR/><BR/>I think there is a distinct suspicion that Supermarkets are trading unfairly and that is why it might even up. having se the voverage in the Sun of the idea I see poltically it is "Brave" but Cameron has always understood .Its not votes its seats and opening this sort of subject uo even is , I feel a good and valid idea.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Very true, n. I do feel that there's a groundswell building up against the supermarkets' monopoly, in particular among 'thinking' voters like us lot on newmania's blog, among disafected Lib Dems and swing voters that Zac and Cameron are right to capitalise on.<BR/><BR/>It extends too to the dreadful exploitation of staff in china. We may like our cheap goods, but do we want them so cheap if the true cost is Chinese workers dying at their machines after 48 shifts?<BR/><BR/>And do we really want these deals with China arranged by slippery Mandelson, totally at the expense of our own industry, what there is left of it?<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-81881396218193703592007-09-11T22:04:00.000+01:002007-09-11T22:04:00.000+01:00Flo - NL did not get rid of the MMC. In fact for ...Flo - NL did not get rid of the MMC. In fact for the first time the UK got proper competition legislation on the level of the US model. Because that is one of the few things that the EU treaty is good for and our new regime is a reflection of that sensible regime. France has the same law, so does Poland, Spain etc.Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-23611511075110398802007-09-11T21:59:00.000+01:002007-09-11T21:59:00.000+01:00Woops, sorry, I should have said that over 74% of ...Woops, sorry, I should have said that over 74% of our grocer market is dominated by just 4 companies.<BR/><BR/>96% of the market is congtrolled by just 9 companies.<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-35796498079787414692007-09-11T21:56:00.000+01:002007-09-11T21:56:00.000+01:00I enjoyed reading that . Ed`s point about France i...I enjoyed reading that . Ed`s point about France is reall intresting isn`t it. They do seem to have both of course it is an exceedingly socially conservative Country more than I might be conmfortable with.<BR/><BR/>I think there is a distinct suspicion that Supermarkets are trading unfairly and that is why it might evened up. having se the voverage in the Sun of the idea I see poltically it is "Brave" but Cameron has always understood .Its not votes its seats and opening this sort of subject uo even is , I feel a good and valid idea.<BR/><BR/><BR/>It isn`t an easy one though it reningds me of carers in that uits not amenable to instant solution. cares save the NHS about £50 billion a year and many live in dreadful conditions while they are following natural love and loyalties we should support.<BR/><BR/>We have allowed this to be a left isseu but I think we should be talking about it , in the context of slashing away waste from the state. There is deperate devil in the detail but nothing would please me more than to hear cameron show that these peopl are not forgottenNewmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-66362654312358374362007-09-11T21:43:00.000+01:002007-09-11T21:43:00.000+01:00newmania said:suspect Supermarkets do use supernor...newmania said:<BR/><BR/>suspect Supermarkets do use supernormal profits to subsidise Parking then surely this is matter for the Monopoly board and the legislation is already in place.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Excellent point, n, I bet they must misuse their supermarket profits for this. <BR/><BR/>The problem is that nulab did away with the Monopolies Commission just as it's done away with so much else that used to protect us and our democracy. We now have nulab's Office Of Fair Trading, Oft, which seems to be more concerned with consumer rights than with controlling monopolies.<BR/><BR/>Nulab have changed the law in favour of the supermarkets too - what a surprise! Whereas, under the original monopolies law, I understand that companies were legally prevented from aquiring more than a 25% market share, now the rules have been changed and manipulated to allow Tesco over 31% market share and still rising. <BR/><BR/>Now we have the following:<BR/><BR/>The supermarkets operating today<BR/><BR/>Tesco – 31.5%. <BR/><BR/>Asda – 16%.<BR/><BR/>Sainsbury’s – 16%<BR/><BR/>Morrisons - 11%<BR/><BR/>Somerfield – 5%.<BR/><BR/>Waitrose – 4%<BR/><BR/>Iceland - 2%. <BR/><BR/>The Co-op - 5%.<BR/><BR/>Lidl and Aldi – 2%.<BR/><BR/><BR/>So over 96% of our grocery market is largely dominated by just 4 companies.<BR/><BR/>And - at the behest of these supermarkets who are so influential in local and national government - the remaining independents we have are being squeezed out of business by unfair over regulation of parking. <BR/><BR/>Is this a mere coincidence?<BR/><BR/>Whether it is or not, it certainl isn't good for our hig streets, our democracy - or for our SME's<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-29653538428185192562007-09-11T21:17:00.000+01:002007-09-11T21:17:00.000+01:00I agree we can't allow the population to go on inc...I agree we can't allow the population to go on increasing forever. That means stopping encouraging people having children, reducing immigration and making city-dwellers live at higher densities.<BR/><BR/>Oh yes, and letting people build more houses and flats on already developed space. Or supermarkets if they want.Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-82091343817490685472007-09-11T21:13:00.000+01:002007-09-11T21:13:00.000+01:00Of course I don't want that, but that isn't market...Of course I don't want that, but that isn't market power, that is corruption - a different set of people to attack.<BR/><BR/>There are plenty of laws against abuse of market power and corruption.<BR/><BR/>Oh and I agree about the packaging! It makes me laugh the big chains say that we can't get rid of excess packaging because the consumers want it - but in the case of humous it's the cheap range that has the excess cardboard and the expensive one just just had a plastic tub.Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-65114124609190189532007-09-11T21:10:00.000+01:002007-09-11T21:10:00.000+01:00ED said:I'm not for concreting over the whole coun...ED said:<BR/><BR/>I'm not for concreting over the whole country but is it not obvious that by safeguarding the green for the rich we are f*cking over the rest of the country<BR/><BR/><BR/>That's a very good point. I really sympathise with young people who can't afford their own place. My 25 year old daughter was forced to live at home until a few months ago because of the cost of an alternative. <BR/><BR/>We both needed independence and privacy - which we couldn't have living on top of each other. The pressures inevitably led to unnecessary rows that neither of us wanted to have with each other. Now she's sharing a private flat, but has to pay a huge amount for rent. <BR/><BR/>So I accept that there's a strong case for development. However, the case for proper immigration control is far stronger, as out of control migration to UK is the cause of our housing shortage. And I don't accept that there should be the huge and unsustainable volume of development in the South East that we're getting. Especially since the development near me floods my street and other parts of my town.<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-78605258005706773452007-09-11T20:49:00.000+01:002007-09-11T20:49:00.000+01:00While it is certainly true that totalitarians have...While it is certainly true that totalitarians have been destroying our town centres for generations, would we really manage without hypermarkets even if they hadn't?<BR/><BR/><BR/>You're over-dramatising, Ed...living without hypermarkets....awe come on :)<BR/><BR/>No one wants to - or could - put supermarkets out of business. <BR/><BR/>Though I can actually remember life before supermarkets when I was a child and it was pretty good. In fact I remember there being a much better quality of life than we have now. At that time, in the 60s, Sainsbury had small SHOPS with just two counters where you were served by staff wearing big pinnies. There weren't any aisles, self service or carrier bags and sausages were one of the few convenience foods. You tended to buy only what you needed and could afford. There was far less packaging, far less waste to be disposed of (one small dustbin which was never full), and there was considerably less personal debt except for re tally men. We didn't waste food. Yet we ate bl**dy well and never went without, believe it or not. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, we don't need to live without supermarkets. We just need the giants to stop behaving like oligopolies, to stop threatening our democracy and to keep their hands off our local and national government. <BR/><BR/>How can it be libertarian, Ed, for supermarkets to be runnng our government on unaccountable quangos?<BR/><BR/>You surely don't want that, do you?<BR/><BR/>Auntie Flo'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35649541.post-52116659939674762512007-09-11T19:47:00.000+01:002007-09-11T19:47:00.000+01:00While it is certainly true that totalitarians have...While it is certainly true that totalitarians have been destroying our town centres for generations, would we really manage without hypermarkets even if they hadn't?<BR/><BR/>Let's look at good old France shall we? They have protected their towns from the planners, have good parking, excellent local shops, quality products fairly priced but LO! they have EVEN BETTER supermarkets than we have here! <BR/><BR/>What is going on?<BR/><BR/>Zac`Goldsmith can f*ck back off to where his fantasies are. Charging for Tesco parking is not the way forward it really isn't. Food and sundries are already much more expensive here than on the continent for one very simple reason: we are restricting our land use too much already.<BR/><BR/>I'm not for concreting over the whole country but is it not obvious that by safeguarding the green for the rich we are f*cking over the rest of the country?<BR/><BR/>As Andrew Boff rightly said yesterday if Conservatives are not for liberation what are they for?Old BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.com