Christine has always called out for the retailers to be more focused on code compliance and proactive in their approach to reducing any risk of a Grocery Code related breach. As an ambition for her final 12 months, Tacon outlined that retailers needed to take a whole-organisation approach to Code compliance; essentially, retailers holding their own business to account. A five prong approach was outlined which included;
- Proactive compliance risk management at all levels within the business; leadership to governance and culture
- Ensuring legal compliance and audit functions are in place to have oversight of practices, challenge current ways of working and support where change is needed
- Ensuring internal systems and processes reduce the risk of a Code breach and that they support and deliver Code compliance
- Ensuring all decision makers across the whole organisation are trained & incorporating live issues and lessons learnt in business practice
- Improving communication between retailer and supplier, facilitating Code compliance so there are ‘no surprises’
Tacon said:
“I want to see the retailers build for themselves a whole-organisation approach to Code compliance. This puts their compliance management thinking into their overall governance structures, their legal and audit functions, as well as their internal systems and processes, into their training and their communication with suppliers”
The GCA will continue the focus on delays in payments and work closely with Ocado and B&M to bring these new additional retailers up to speed on previous issues. Ocado and B&M were added to the GSCOP regulation in 2018, following NFU lobbying during the first statutory review of the GCA remit.
The impact of buying alliances, joint ventures and merged entities on Code compliance is a key concern suppliers have. This will therefore become a key focus for the GCA in her final 12 months, with particular consideration to;
- Co-op and the independent societies ordering through it
- Retailers’ use of intermediaries
- Tesco/Booker – combining wholesale and retail
- Tesco/Carrefour – combining UK and non-UK groceries resale
- Franchises
Future of the GCA role
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have a statutory duty to review the success of the GCA role every three years. With the 2nd review currently being consulted on, coupled with the GCA focus to improve self-regulation of retailers, some have speculated the Adjudicator position could be abolished.
The future existence of the GCA role is well outside the remit of the adjudicator herself. It’s for politicians and the Secretary of State to argue the case, backed up with evidence from the industry. There are also specific and clear conditions set down in law which need to be met before the GCA can be dissolved.
The industry has a prime opportunity now to ensure evidence is put forward to the BEIS consultation. The role of the GCA continues to be important for many of our members. The NFU will be speaking with members about this throughout the summer, and will be submitting evidence in September.
View the BEIS consultationhere.
If you want to share your views with the NFU, please email Rm9vZENoYWluRm9jdXNAbmZ1Lm9yZy51aw==
A wake up call for suppliers – GSCOP training
If anything, the fact that Tacon is stepping down should be a wake-up call for suppliers. The reason why Christine Tacon was so successful in achieving significant step changes across the retail culture is because of her no nonsense, straight talking attitude.
It’s not clear who will replace her yet, but now is the time suppliers should upskill themselves on Code compliance.
“This is the best way to make sure that breaches of the Code don’t happen and, if they do, that they are quickly picked up and put right.” Christine Tacon, annual GCA conference 2019