Grocery sector inquiry is a failure, says FSB

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said that small, independent shops have been let down by the Competition Commission in its inquiry into the grocery sector.

Despite a committee of MPs estimating that 2,000 small shops are going out of business each year, the FSB said that the Competition Commission had failed to come up with any remedies that would halt the decline. Throughout the two-year investigation the FSB has been dismayed that the Competition Commission failed to consider the impact of supermarkets on independent retailing.

In response the FSB set up its wide-ranging Keep Trade Local campaign to highlight issues that the Competition Commission failed to address. The campaign also aims to raise awareness of the value that small, independent retailers provide to consumers. This includes local products, more personal service and speciality goods not available in supermarkets.

Clive Davenport, FSB Trade & Industry Chairman, said:

“During the course of three investigations in seven years the Competition Commission has consistently failed to understand the value to consumers of small independent shops. This latest inquiry has again missed the point.

“The remit of this inquiry was far too narrow. Supermarkets are forcing small shops out of business in many areas of retailing, not just groceries. Important issues such as the travesty of almost limitless free parking at out of town superstores while independent high street shops face ever-more stringent parking restrictions were not even considered.

“People up and down the country can see that we are losing our small shops, but this report does little to solve the problem. We are in danger of sleepwalking into the death of our high streets. The FSB has been left with no alternative but to campaign across the country and raise political awareness. It is now up to our elected representatives to step in and prevent disaster.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. The FSB has set up a Keep Trade Local Petition on the Number 10 website, which is available at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/keeptradelocal/

2. Over 400 MEPs signed a European Parliament declaration on curbing the abuse of power by supermarkets in the European Union. The declaration is available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/plenary/writtenDecl/wdFastAdopted.do?language=EN.

3. The FSB is Britain’s biggest business organisation with over 210,000 members. It exists to protect and promote the interests of the self-employed, and all those who run their own business. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk.

Contacts:

Stephen Alambritis: 020 7592 8112 / 07788 422155
Simon Briault: 020 7592 8128 / 07917 628998

For regional FSB contacts please go to www.fsb.org.uk/regions