Sky News business editor Michael Wilson

The latest Competition Commission report into the supermarket business has cost the big grocers – thus presumably its customers - £50m and the taxpayer £4m.

The Commission had already said, six months ago, that the ‘UK grocery market delivers a good deal for consumers’ and that there was ‘no direct evidence of tacit coordination between grocery retailers’.

After that, today’s report was something of a damp squib.

There will be some new planning restrictions to promote competition between grocery retailers, a tightening of supermarkets’ code of practice in dealing with suppliers and an ombudsman to police it.

But there’s precious little for small businesses which compete with their giant rivals – the report said that although independent retailers felt under pressure “this does not mean that competition is not working well”.

What’s curious about this latest exercise is the bizarre sense of timing of another of our competition authorities, the Office of Fair Trading.

Last Thursday, the OFT raided the offices of the big four supermarkets, as part of a new probe into alleged price-fixing of food and toiletries. It’s said to be the biggest investigation it’s ever launched.

Unsurprisingly, retail bosses were exasperated at yet another onslaught. But the taxpayer may also share some of this exasperation.

Doesn’t this at least upstage today’s Competition Commission Report, and might it not render the findings of today’s report redundant, if, as they must suspect from the scale of what they’re doing, that there’s something very serious going on?

And doesn’t this all point to yet another enquiry?

While any price-fixing and collusion obviously needs to be rooted out, I can’t help feeling that the real people to ask about supermarkets and their competitive pricing are the customers themselves.

So are you being served?

And, if you’re a small business either competing with or supplying our supermarket giants, how do you rate our watchdogs’ teeth?

Comments

[barry melksham 5 May 2008 19:38:39]

I believe this national socialist government with its control freak mentality has been foiled by (and had to compensate) Morrisons is just turning its revenge onto the supermarket industry. If we didn't want supermarkets or felt strongly enough we would stop using them in our millions, they would wither and die like the Post Office. However, like Kate Moss boyfriend we need our fix and come OFT, supermarket Czar or Mr Brown himself we will keep on feeding Tesco Sainsbury et al so lets all stop being hypocritical - we don't care ENOUGH about small retailers.

[Khalid 30 Apr 2008 15:02:19]

Sir
Thus far as the power of the many an ombudsman, then need I go further, as that's where I see the problems being exaperated, notwithstanding the fact that I have yet to meet an ombudsman who does not rule on probability, thus allowing facts to be overlooked.
Next we have our local councils, desperate for revenue generation, and giving priority to such chains insofar as rebates like you have never known, and who pays, us the consumer.
I love shopping at my supermarket, purely and simply because I am a lazy git, prefer to do it in one hit and enjoy the fruits of my shopping without due concern therafter til the next time round.
Price fixing in itself has tarred the industry for years, yet neither the OFT has managed to bring prices down, nor have manufacturers taken any action to do so.
Taking the many a product dressed in packaging, the question that I would ask is, what exactly am I interested in, the contents or the package?
Now, Im sure you know the answer to that, further considering that own brands tend to be 75% cheaper, do the same job and in many a case produced, packaged and manufactured by the same suppliers supermarkets get other brands from.
So, [Bob The Builder-Can We Fix It]?

[Michael Cornwall 30 Apr 2008 13:37:42]

Brilliant comment by Pete from Brighton. I am so pleased to read someone being positive.I think that there are so many impressive commentaries speaking of what is in front of them and us now, but not enough ways out of the mess.I think the yanks have attacked their credit crunch fear and recession problems head on, well done them.Thanks for mentioning small retailers yes there is nothing in the report for us,but we will positively have a go too.

[pete brighton 30 Apr 2008 11:11:04]

Oh Michael, you do make me laugh. You slip out these topics as bait to see how your readers react, probably knowing full well what our aswers are going to be already. Do expect us to say oh yes we are all very happy? Can I make a suggestion, why dont you look at ways of making things better instead of driving down consumer confidence. Its obvious that the people who are making a lot of money are making the world a very nasty place. Why dont you do something like encourage people to take action, tell them to boycott the super markets. Lets have a run on a supermarket and see how they like it. I bet if we all boycotted them they would soon reduce thier prices. Come on Michael bring on the revolution. Lets fight back. Lets be proactive not reactive. Its time and the time is now!