Asda director John Longworth has called on the Competition Commission to leave the grocery sector alone for 10 years after completing its present inquiry.
Speaking ahead of next week’s expected release of the commission’s provisional findings, Longworth said: “After they have made their conclusions, at least a decade would be a reasonable period.
“These investigations are time-consuming and costly and things do not tend to change fundamentally within that period of time, although retail is very dynamic.”
His comments will resonate with directors of all the big grocers, who between them generate sales of£95 billion and have spent vast amounts of time and money co-operating with the inquiry – the third in seven years.
Competition Commission chairman Peter Freeman and his team kicked off the present investigation in May 2006, but a final verdict is not expected until the first half of next year. Longworth said: “As much as I like Peter Freeman, I do not want to meet him for a while.”
Speculation is mounting that the commission will not land any hard punches on the big four grocers next week. If that is borne out, Tesco – which has most to lose from any potential draconian measures further down the line – will breathe the biggest sigh of relief.
Waitrose managing director Mark Price pointed out that the big four had a 35 per cent market share in 1986, compared with about 70 per cent today.
“The Competition Commission needs to consider, with the current planning regime and guidelines, [whether] there will be a continuation of that trend to the detriment of food retail in the UK,” he said.
Planet Retail analyst Bryan Roberts said that “something has to be done” about competition at a local level, because there are some towns in the UK where Tesco in particular is dominant and there is a lack of choice.
A Competition Commission spokesman said: “We are obviously aware that there are several people in the industry who have had enough of the inquiry.”
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