Tesco tasks PwC with auditing stock management as it scraps supplier fees

The supermarket giant’s auditor PwC is attending more stock takes across the store estate in order to investigate products that are lost, stolen or spoiled, according to The Sunday Times.

It is understood Tesco asked PwC to look into ‘shrink and waste’ before the £263m overstatement of profits was revealed to new chief executive Dave Lewis.

Tesco is also dismantling its system of demanding payments from suppliers, according to The Daily Mail.

The fees are called ‘commercial income’ and reportedly account for one third of profits and include charges for stocking products and for displaying them prominently.

News comes shortly after Lewis revealed he was clamping down on artificial measures that “help manage profitability”.

One example he gave was the reducing of staffing levels after Christmas, a practice he is ending “in order to have a consistent offering”.

Meanwhile, Tesco is seeking a property boss to sell off non-core property assets in order to raise hundreds of millions of pounds, according to The Telegraph.

Tesco has reportedly approached senior figures in the property industry about taking up a position to head the disposal of non-core real estate.