Obviously, with Tesco failing to track the price changes, the stores have had to set-up their own trackers – the concern is that no-where near the expected quantity of labels had been sent,  many departments have completed some price verification routines today on affected areas,  we have recieved faxes of paperwork showing PV routines showing price discrepancies of more than 67% on one mod alone! – i.e over half of  all price labels on one area alone is incorrect!!,  Compliance managers are concerned that Tesco’s Head Office have managed to pass the problem to stores and that all the flak will be directed at the PI departments rather than the H/O staff responsible for this farce!!

“Traders are required to display clearly their prices inclusive of VAT. For a period up to 14 days, they are permitted under the Price Marking Order 2004 (SI 2004/102) to let consumers know, by way of a general notice, that an adjustment in price, to take account of the VAT change, will be made at the till.”

The Order was amended in December to give 28 days for price changes.”

THIS DOES NOT GIVE TESCO’s THE RIGHT TO OVERCHARGE DUE TO POOR PRICE INTEGRITY HEAD OFFICE POLICIES.

We look forward to recieving more details from you all in the next week!!

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Imagine being a Compliance Manager (the manager responsible for the legality and pricing in stores) this week…….  As always, Tesco have managed to completely muddy the waters with how they intend to deal with the VAT increase. Sainsburies have been transparent and told us what would be increasing and what would not . . . .  ASDA have announced that all their relevant goods would be repriced immediately (extra investment and planning has been made available to achieve this) , compare this with Tesco:

“Tesco said it would freeze VAT at 15 per cent on ‘thousands of products’ to deliver £12million of savings. But prices will rise for many other products.

Richard Brasher of Tesco said: ‘The VAT reduction was a welcome relief for millions of shoppers and helped many continue to treat themselves over Christmas. We want to extend this help into the New Year and hope consumers will feel able to bag a bargain and get 2010 off to a great start.’  “

So thats clear then!  Somethings will be increased, some won’t – we just are not going to tell you!!!  And this does not just apply to the shoppers,  Compliance Managers are still unaware of the changes which they will be responsible for implementing, no indication of the workload OR when it will be actioned!  Factor-in the usual lack of investment for the task and we can expect to see the usual chaos.  SO  as  always, make sure you check your reciept should you dare to shop at Tesco’s !!

“  The UK’s biggest retailer said the move would save customers £12m, although it said the duration of the freeze would vary between individual lines and it did not specify how long it would last.”

UPDATE:

Tesco have now admitted that prices will be different in different stores, dependant on demographics and format . . . . .   This is surely proof that this is a marketing gimmick, are Tesco shoppers really happy that they may be paying more than Tesco shoppers who simply live elsewhere?

Of Course  Tesco Extra Shoppers  have been contantly assured of the “VAT PRICE FREEZE” on the Promotional aisle immediately at  Xmas – as visible on all the Point Of Sale….  which was good of Tesco – the VAT doesn’t increase until New Year anyway!!!

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Date: Friday 3rd July

Time:9.00 – 10.30am

Venue: SECC, Exhibition Way, Finnieston, Glasgow, G3 8YW, next to main entrance (East doors)

In a first for a British trade union, Unite the union, will table a resolution (see notes to editors) at Tesco’s AGM. The resolution calls for action to end the exploitation and discrimination of workers employed by companies in the UK and Ireland that supply meat to Tesco.

Unite protestors will be out in full force brandishing flags and placards to ensure shareholders hear the voice of workers employed by companies that supply meat to Tesco stores. Unite members with shares in Tesco will also question Terry Leahy from the floor of the AGM.

Unite believes the issues highlighted by the resolution represent a systematic failure by Tesco either to anticipate or properly manage its exposure to brand, reputational and political risks.

The resolution is part of an ongoing campaign by Unite to improve the treatment of workers, including agency workers, in the UK supermarket supply chain.

The union has presented Tesco with evidence that some workers in its UK supply chain are experiencing harsh and divisive conditions that, in some cases, are abusive. So far Tesco has failed to act.

Unite believes that structural discrimination exists in many parts of the supply chain that provides meat to Tesco with agency workers, overwhelmingly migrant, on poorer conditions of employment, undercutting indigenous workers. That divides workplaces, Unite says, and damages community social cohesion.

The requisition of the resolution was endorsed by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) which holds 15,584,965 shares in Tesco. WYPF is one of the UK’s leading local authority pension funds and has over 211,000 members and beneficiaries, employed by 184 separate organisations, with assets of £7,271 million as at March 2008.

PIRC (Pensions Investments Research Council) has recommended to its clients that they support Unite’s resolution. The value of the assets advised by PIRC are circa £1.5 trillion. PIRC provides services to institutional investors on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. PIRC has a wide spectrum of clients ranging from pension funds, faith-based investors, trade unions to banks and asset managers. Its Corporate Governance Service is an authoritative and vital resource for active investors.

The resolution is also supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents 1.3 million members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

As an indication of the seriousness of Unite’s claims, the powerful Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is conducting its first statutory inquiry into the UK’s multi-billion pound meat industry in England and Wales for evidence of employment abuse and discrimination.

Unite deputy general secretary, Jack Dromey, said: “Unite will be outside the Tesco AGM protesting, but we’ll also be inside the AGM calling for action. This is a first for a British union. Our resolution will be heard no matter what.

“The exploitation of migrant agency workers – and undercutting of indigenous workers – divides workplaces, damages community social cohesion and fuels racism. We have organised all workers around fair and equal treatment of all workers. Now we take their cause to the AGM of Tesco shareholders, holding Terry Leahy to account.

“Tesco, with Unite, jointly commissioned an independent report proving a two-tier labour market in their supply chain. The company then walked away from the table. We tried and failed to engage. The company is not interested. Now, the evidence of structural discrimination is so strong that the independent EHRC is conducting its first statutory inquiry.

“Tesco leads in size but lags behind competitor supermarkets which are accepting their responsibilities. The meat industry will forever be scarred by exploitation, undercutting and discrimination if the dominant player washes its hands of responsibility.”

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Applications for this year’s schemes, starting in September, closed in December last year. They proved very popular with the graduate sector as 16,000 applications were received for the 100 places.

Tesco is keen to take on graduates, as the firm recognises the assets they bring to the corporation, and how the tough economic situation affects university leavers.  However  Store Staff and Managers are left incredulous, with the announcement,  stores are being tasked more and more to meet their almost impossible wage budgets, Customer assistants are placed under more and more pressure to deliver in environments with decreasing morale,  line managers are now left in no doubts that they will not recieve good reviews if they do not stay additional hours, as this is the message being given by the Operations Directors – Store Directors – Store Managers – Line Managers (article to follow with recording of a actual Store Managers conference call!)

Tescos is seen as a timebomb by some experts,  putting more and more pressure onto Stores and distribution, whilst those in their ivory towers fiddle with their numbers, targetting, forecasting and take critical responsibilities away from the managers in-store.  The centralisation of the company is nearing completion and experts are now predicting that the ‘brain drain’ seen so far at Director level will soon filter to Store Managers & Line Managers as they realise that they are no longer able to actually ‘manage’  – they are simply there to do the Mighty Head Offices orders.

And whilst the might of Tesco seems to be containing the bad news due to the meekness of  the British press,  The future of Tesco as market leader is certainly in doubt.

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Siratranont, now deputy secretary general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, was facing up to two years in jail and a £16.4m libel damages claim after he made a speech at Bangkok’s Kasetsart University saying Tesco’s expansion was “aggressive”. He also claimed that the profits from its Thai subsidiary, Tesco Lotus, were sent back to the UK, causing deeper poverty in Thailand.

The court dismissed the libel case filed by Ek-Chai Distribution System Company Limited, a wholesaler and retailer of Tesco Lotus, ruling that the criticism made by the defendant was “in good faith by way of fair comment on any person or thing subjected to public criticism”. The court also dismissed the claim of one billion baht damages (about £16.4m) by Tesco.

“We have made it clear throughout that all we want is to put the record straight and get an apology from Mr Jit,” said a spokesman for Tesco. “We are considering our options.”

Last year Tesco in Thailand launched three libel claims over separate allegations in relation to the company’s expansion.

Nongnart Harnvilai, 45, a writer for Bangkokbiznews, wrote about Tesco Lotus’s plans to open a further 130 outlets, saying Thai competitors were in for a difficult time. Tesco settled the action after seeking £1.9m in libel damages, with an apology published in the paper for three consecutive days.

A third case was brought against Kamol Kamoltrakul, an academic and also a writer for Bangkokbiznews, who is facing a £1.6m damages claim after being served with a libel writ. The Tesco spokesman said that the company was still working towards an out of court settlement over this case.

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