David Ward is Tesco Code Compliance Office and is responsible for the retailer’s compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). David joined Tesco in 2004 as a senior competition lawyer advising Tesco on day to day GSCOP practices, before later being appointed to Regulatory, Ethics & Compliance Director in 2013, with an oversight of many compliance programmes. This included being appointed as Tesco Code Compliance Officer. This newly created role allowed David to move to a more independence position for GSCOP related management.
The Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) or “the code” is a detailed code of practice for how the UK top 10 retailers are expected to fairly and lawfully manage direct supplier relationships.
It essentially stops malpractice from buyer power and only regulates the link between the retailer and their direct supplier.
Aldi, Asda, Co-Op, Iceland, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose all legally have to comply with GSCOP rules. CLICK HERE TO VIEW GSCOP.
Each retailer, by law, must appoint a suitably qualified employee as their Code Compliance Office (CCO) who must be independent and not managed by any member of the Buying team. The CCO is a point of contact for suppliers to discuss any GSCOP related matters as well as the GCA.
GSCOP is adjudicated by the Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA), Christine Tacon, an independent office ensuring all 10 retailers are code complaint. The GCA holds meetings with each individual CCO on a quarterly basis and will meet all CCOs as a group in six month intervals to update them on the work of the Adjudicator.
Click here to view the GCA website for news and guidance on GSCOP
Question: If you could change one thing about the groceries market, what would it be?
I was a supermarket geek long before I worked for Tesco and can still spend hours looking around foreign supermarkets. Collectively, I think the British grocery sector provides an exceptional offer for customers with a range of stores – from Polish delis, hard discounters, convenience formats and large supermarkets – to cater to all tastes and budgets. So it’s hard to identify something that I would change, though across the industry I think there is more that we can all do to minimise food waste in the supply chain.
Question: What achievement as CCO are you most proud of?
It’s a collective achievement rather than a personal one, but I would call out our response to the GCA’s investigation and particularly the implementation of the report’s conclusions. A large team of Tesco people, led by my Legal colleagues and their Product (Commercial) counterparts, mobilised to implement the recommendations, which have resulted in wide-ranging changes to our processes for payments, complaints and disputes (among other things). I think it’s fair to say that both the GCA and Tesco are pleased with our progress to implement the recommendations from the investigation.
Question: What are the most challenging aspects of your CCO role?
We’ve come through a very challenging year, given the GCA investigation into Tesco. Beyond that, the challenges fall into two groups: ensuring that buyers know and understand GSCOP and can apply it every day and helping suppliers reach an amicable resolution to any GSCOP complaints they bring to my attention. My Food Legal colleagues, led by Emer Kelly and her team, do a great job every day to guide the buyers on how to navigate both the letter and the spirit of GSCOP.
Question: What 3 things do you want to achieve in the next 12 months?
1. For us to continue to simplify our processes and operations to the benefit of suppliers;
2. To maintain a robust GSCOP compliance programme across the business;
3. To come first in the GCA’s annual supplier survey.
Question: Is there anything else you would like to share with readers of News from the Adjudicator?
Only that I welcome suppliers contacting me if they have any concerns about Tesco. We can generally help to facilitate a resolution between the supplier and the buying team and the contacts also give me helpful insight into issues that might not otherwise be on our GSCOP radar
The NFU see GSCOP and the GCA role as a huge success in changing the culture and behaviour of the top 10 retailers. Our members frequently tell us that since the GCA’s first establishment in 2013, retailers are now more open and transparent in their day to day dealings with direct suppliers.
It is law, within GSCOP that all retail buyers must be GSCOP trained. The NFU strongly feel that for GSCOP to work best, direct retail suppliers must too be trained. That’s why we offer DISCOUNTED TRAINING sessions to ensure our members have the right negotiation tools to ensure code compliance agreements with retailers.