{"id":93173,"date":"2018-06-25T09:30:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T09:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=7c909e04c0b649d820e2a302efee43f0"},"modified":"2018-06-25T09:30:08","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T09:30:08","slug":"press-release-groceries-sector-survey-shows-gca-action-drove-big-improvements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=93173","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Groceries sector survey shows GCA action drove big improvements"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Increased scrutiny and intensive engagement from the Groceries Code Adjudicator (<abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr>) is the common factor among all retailers identified by groceries suppliers as 2018\u2019s biggest improvers.<\/p>\n<p>The groceries sector survey \u2013 carried out by YouGov for the <abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr> &#8211; puts Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and the Co-operative at the top of the improvement table for Code compliance in a year of strong progress across all regulated retailers.<\/p>\n<p>There were over 1,000 responses to the survey. The results were released at the <abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr>\u2019s annual conference held in London. The theme was \u201cStrong Progress; Fresh Challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, said: \u201cMy 2018 survey tells a very positive story and it is no coincidence that the four most-improved retailers this year have each faced increased <abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr> scrutiny and heightened levels of <abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr> engagement through investigations and case studies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndeed, I am delighted to report significant improvements across all regulated retailers.  In each successive <abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr> survey, suppliers have scored retailers\u2019 compliance with the Code. In 2014, the percentage reported as complying \u2018consistently well\u2019 or \u2018mostly\u2019 ranged from 58 to 90%. This year, the range is 84% to 97%, with only two retailers scoring less than 90%.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 2018 survey is proof that my collaborative, business-focused approach gets results.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This year only four out of ten suppliers reported having experienced a Code-related issue \u2013 down from a high of eight out of ten in 2014, and a huge improvement on 2017 when 56% of suppliers reported having experienced an issue.<br \/>\nThe incidence of all Top Issues is also on a steep downward trend, with delay in payments \u2013 reported by only 19% of suppliers &#8211; being the highest-ranking issue in 2018.  Compare this to 2014, when the percentage of suppliers reporting the <abbr title=\"Groceries Code Adjudicator\">GCA<\/abbr>\u2019s Top 5 Issues ranged from a high of 45% to 33%.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Tacon said: \u201cThe results of the survey together with information I have received from suppliers and trade associations mean there is no pressing candidate for inclusion as a current Top Issue.  But this doesn\u2019t mean my job is done \u2013 far from it.  I know there are fresh challenges waiting for me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can confidently say that for two reasons.  One is that my current investigation into the Co-operative Group will generate future work with all regulated retailers, although of course I cannot yet know what form that will take.  The second is that additional retailers will soon be designated by the Competition and Markets Authority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe CMA has told me that it has written to a number of retailers to identify those with a UK annual groceries turnover of more than \u00a31 billion.  It expects to designate one or more additional retailers by the end of August.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBringing these new retailers up to speed and ensuring a consistent level of Code compliance across the entire regulated cohort will be challenging and exciting work.  I am looking forward to it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One continuing challenge revealed by the survey results is the 45% of suppliers who have still not had any Code training \u2013 a figure that rises to 67% among micro suppliers and 58% among small suppliers.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Tacon said: \u201cThis remains an area of concern for me.  Half of suppliers are not trained so they are less likely to have the confidence to speak up.  The results of my survey show that speaking up can bring real benefits.   I urge them to get trained in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Results of 2018 Groceries sector survey show strong progress and significant improvement by retailers following GCA involvement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}