After years of being on the front foot in the PR war as the people's champions, UK supermarkets got a bloody nose on March 1.
First ACS boss James Lowman unveiled his research that demonstrated that while Tesco and Sainsbury had added 2.3 million square feet of selling space in the past year, they had achieved a net loss of 426 jobs. That is the equivalent of 1,500 medium size local shops and no new jobs.
"The government is desperate for growth and jobs," Mr Lowman told the ACS summit in Birmingham. "The supermarkets claim they are the answer and the goverment needs to liberalise planning laws. These facts show they are not."
Local shopkeepers should use Mr Lowman's facts in conversations with their local MP, local authority people and local planners. The supermarkets are expert at influencing local planning decisions and here is some ammunition that may help you stop them opening next to you.
At the same time, analysis by City bank UBS of whether food would become a political issue in developed countries was making headlines in the UK papers. "Supermarkets are ripping off British shoppers," said the Telegraph in its business lead story. "Supermarkets need shake up," wrote Simon English in the Evening Standard.
"What matters is not the rate of change of prices but the absolute level of prices," said British Retail Consortium Director General, Stephen Robertson, defending the supermarkets. He claims the UBS figures missed out on the level of promotions in the UK (38 per cent) and that "Food prices have not risen at anything like the same rate as commodity prices. It's clear that supermarkets are shielding customers from the full impact."
However, the UBS table shows overall food prices have risen by 4.9 per cent in the UK, compared to 3.6 per cent in Germany, 1.4 per cent in France, 1.1 per cent in Italy and a fall of 1 per cent in Ireland.
It also runs a model on processed foods, where around 70 per cent of the cost is for distribution, promotion, advertising and packaging, that shows that UK processed food inflation is running at around 6 per cent when it should have been around 3.5 per cent.
"After two years during which processed food prices have been rising more than 50 per cent higher than the associated costs...it seems unlikely that this position will continue to be ignored [by politicians]," the report says.
As to Mr Robertson's point about promotions, the report says that BOGOF deals are a distraction and will not deter political action as they do not impact on the perception of inflation in the mind of shoppers.
For local retailers, the great news about the report is how the media has picked up on it. Get clippings now and store them up if you are having to argue against a Tesco Express or Sainsbury Local coming near your shop.
First ACS boss James Lowman unveiled his research that demonstrated that while Tesco and Sainsbury had added 2.3 million square feet of selling space in the past year, they had achieved a net loss of 426 jobs. That is the equivalent of 1,500 medium size local shops and no new jobs.
"The government is desperate for growth and jobs," Mr Lowman told the ACS summit in Birmingham. "The supermarkets claim they are the answer and the goverment needs to liberalise planning laws. These facts show they are not."
Local shopkeepers should use Mr Lowman's facts in conversations with their local MP, local authority people and local planners. The supermarkets are expert at influencing local planning decisions and here is some ammunition that may help you stop them opening next to you.
At the same time, analysis by City bank UBS of whether food would become a political issue in developed countries was making headlines in the UK papers. "Supermarkets are ripping off British shoppers," said the Telegraph in its business lead story. "Supermarkets need shake up," wrote Simon English in the Evening Standard.
"What matters is not the rate of change of prices but the absolute level of prices," said British Retail Consortium Director General, Stephen Robertson, defending the supermarkets. He claims the UBS figures missed out on the level of promotions in the UK (38 per cent) and that "Food prices have not risen at anything like the same rate as commodity prices. It's clear that supermarkets are shielding customers from the full impact."
However, the UBS table shows overall food prices have risen by 4.9 per cent in the UK, compared to 3.6 per cent in Germany, 1.4 per cent in France, 1.1 per cent in Italy and a fall of 1 per cent in Ireland.
It also runs a model on processed foods, where around 70 per cent of the cost is for distribution, promotion, advertising and packaging, that shows that UK processed food inflation is running at around 6 per cent when it should have been around 3.5 per cent.
"After two years during which processed food prices have been rising more than 50 per cent higher than the associated costs...it seems unlikely that this position will continue to be ignored [by politicians]," the report says.
As to Mr Robertson's point about promotions, the report says that BOGOF deals are a distraction and will not deter political action as they do not impact on the perception of inflation in the mind of shoppers.
For local retailers, the great news about the report is how the media has picked up on it. Get clippings now and store them up if you are having to argue against a Tesco Express or Sainsbury Local coming near your shop.
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