December 2018 - CCO Progress meetings record
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) is committed to being open about discussions with retailers’ Code Compliance Officers (CCO).
Documents
Details
December 2018: Record of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) progress meetings with Code Compliance Officers (CCO)
Attendees
The GCA (Christine Tacon) and members of her team met with the CCOs and other representatives from the regulated retailers.
3 December 2018
| Retailer | CCO | Other representatives |
|---|---|---|
| Co-operative Group Limited | Saleem Chowdhery | Michael Fletcher, Jim Tully and Andrew Phelps |
| Iceland Foods Limited | Duncan Vaughan | Sarah Hutchinson |
| Lidl UK GmbH | Sophie Wettlaufer | David Unterhalter |
5 December 2018
| Retailer | CCO | Other representatives |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi Stores Limited | Chris Young | - |
| Tesco plc | David Ward | Jodie Tattersall |
| Waitrose Limited | George Leicester-Thackara | Sarah Tomsett and Charlotte Farrell |
| Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc | Steven Butts | Denise Harris and Andrew Clappen |
10 December 2018
| Retailer | CCO | Other representatives |
|---|---|---|
| Asda Stores Limited | Sarah Dickson | David Raggett |
| J Sainsbury plc | Helen Charnley | Jillian Hardwick |
| Marks and Spencer plc | Max Gillibrand | Marissa Perera |
| Ocado Group plc | Nargis Hassani | Jo West |
Key points raised
Issues from the previous set of minutes
There was an update on any issues arising from the previous set of minutes.
Issues in the retailer’s progress report to the GCA
The GCA discussed any issues covered in the retailer’s progress report to the GCA.
Issues raised by direct suppliers
The GCA highlighted any issues being raised by direct suppliers specific to a particular retailer or issues which the GCA wanted to raise with all retailers.
Any other business
Designation of additional retailers
The GCA noted that on 1 November 2018 the Competition and Markets Authority had made an announcement about the designation of additional retailers under the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009. Following that announcement the GCA had held an introductory meeting to which the CCOs of the additional designated retailers had been invited.
Timings of CCO progress meetings in 2019
The GCA noted that meetings with CCOs in 2019 would be moved to triannual from quarterly. This was in light of the designation of additional retailers and that direct suppliers were reporting progress by retailers in terms of overall compliance with the Code. In future these meetings would be held in February, June and November, however instead of the meetings scheduled in February 2019 the GCA asked retailers to arrange a visit for her at their headquarters some time over coming months unless she had already visited quite recently.
Meetings with retailer audit chairs and annual compliance reports
The GCA had completed a round of meetings with the chairs of retailer’s audit committees (or equivalent). The GCA would be writing to retailers to set out any feedback that she would like CCOs to take into account when they prepare the next annual compliance reports.
Agriculture Bill
The GCA noted that an Agriculture Bill was being considered by Parliament and that retailers might want to familiarise themselves with this.
Creating a responsible payment culture - a call for evidence on tackling late payment
The GCA noted that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had recently run a call for evidence on tackling late payment.