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I strongly disagree with some of the sentiments and statements expressed by the chair of Parfetts.

Any one being objective in these challenging times, never mind my membership of the Londis group knows that when the convenience sector is going through one of the biggest step change in its history, standing still and doing nothing is not an option. Can I also point out that it’s not the job of CMA to fix competition rules so that less efficient players can be saved from oblivion hash it may sound. I also find the wholesalers view contradictory. The primary job of any CEO is to offer the best prices for its customers and make some money for its shareholders. I cannot see how that conundrum can be fixed if the Booker merger with Tesco is rejected bearing in mind that some the weaker players will be wiped out regardless of Booker/Tesco merger in any case. The CMA report clearly states and contradicts some of the objectors in the market in that there is little or no conflict between the two groups and at the same time the retail customers will also not be worse off as there is too much completion in the market place as is and there is no way Booker/Tesco merger can afford to increase their prices and ultimately attack its own for short term profit. That would be commercial suicide at the very least.

The recent debate in the press about the direction of the convenience sector can be seen to be sitting in two camps. One who have seen light and the big challenges of internet operators like Amazon and the German discounters and how to counter it and the other wanting to simply not accept the reality of market forces. I my humble opinion the second camp should take a stiff drink and regroup with other likeminded objectors and find ways of being more efficient and help the convenient sector and its members at the same time.


Arjan Mehr Londis Bracknell