A number of leading Nisa retailers have spoken out against the Nisa Members Association (NMA) in a bid to distance themselves from the current tactics being employed by the rebel shareholder group. Meanwhile, the NMA has expelled Select & Save from its ranks as a result of its tie-up with Bargain Booze (C-Store, September 22).
Norfolk-based Redorange is the most high-profile company to have lost faith with the NMA, and the symbol chain has resigned its membership of the group. Managing director Chris Futter said: "Redorange is uncomfortable with the direction the NMA is currently taking and the attacks it has made on the Nisa-Today's Board and certain areas of the supply chain."
Elsewhere, Martin Sanger, managing director at Savage's Supermarket in Southampton, told C-Store: "The NMA says it represents the members' interests, but having a board run by people who carry on like this is not in my best interests at all."
The latest tactic employed by the NMA is to complain about alleged "cartel" behaviour to the Office of Fair Trading, claiming that Costcutter retailers were prevented from joining Nisa by the boards of the two companies. This formal complaint has angered some Nisa members and drawn a strong denial from Nisa-Today's. However, the NMA is persisting with its attack on the board of Nisa-Today's and Costcutter by claiming it has new evidence to support its case.
The NMA has published claims by John Woodward, a senior business development manager at the mutual. The most serious allegation from Woodward, a Nisa-Today's employee for 15 years, is that Nisa directors filtered sales leads so that approaches from Costcutter members were removed before consideration.