TESCO
A Corporate Profile

By Corporate Watch UK
Completed October 2004

5. Conclusion

'Absolute nonsense...They are based on a series of allegations that are completely untrue...We are always prepared to explain what we do...I will explain to anyone who wants to listen'.

Sir Terry Leahy's response to Friends of the Earth allegations over their treatment of farmers, pushing small retailers out of business and selling furniture made from illegally logged timber.²⁶⁵

At the end of 2004, Tesco seem totally unstoppable. They can confidently brush aside criticism knowing that nothing is really standing in their way, certainly not the government or the competition authorites who have already shown themselves very unlikely to act. Unless we, as consumers, choose not to shop in Tesco, or at least, to shop less at Tesco, very soon we will have no choice but to shop at Tesco. They will control our lives from 'the cradle to the grave' – from the 'Baby and Toddler' club to the 'buy one get one free' Tes-coffin (not currently available). Unless we as citizens act to restrain Tesco and call for legislation to restrict its market share, no one else will.

What you can do

'Breaking the Armlock' is a new alliance of 14 farming, environmental and consumer organisations calling for stricter controls over the major supermarkets' trading practices, particularly to stop them passing on unreasonable costs and demands to farmers and growers in the UK and overseas. The Alliance says that supermarket power should be regulated by an independent watchdog with real teeth, supported by a legally binding Code of Practice.

Please ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 817 Supermarket Code of Practice in support of the demands of the 'Breaking the Armlock' Alliance. http://www.breakingthearmlock.com/

Further reading

'Not on the Label' by Felicity Lawrence. Penguin books. 2004.

'Shopped! The Shocking Power of British Supermarkets by Joanna Blythman. Fourth Estate. 2004

'A Rough Guide the UK Farming Crisis' by Kathryn Tulip and Lucy Michaels. 2004. Hard copies available from Corporate Watch or the Corporate Watch website.

'Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain' by George Monbiot. Macmillan 2000. His website www.monbiot.com also has a section of articles about supermarkets.

'Supermarkets: The naked truth' The Ecologist Special Edition. September 2004. Includes excerpts from 'Not on the Label' and 'Shopped'.

'Pile it High Sell it Cheap: The Authorised biography of Sir John Cohen founder of TESCO'
by Maurice Corina. Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1978

Links to other Corporate Watch articles on Tesco:

'The Great Local Food Scam', Corporate Watch Newsletter Issue 3, May/June 2001.
www.corporatewatch.org.uk/newsletter/issue3/nl3lfs.html

'20 000 Jobs Created, thousands of livelihoods destroyed' News updates 21/9/01
www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/Tesco_jobs.html

'Sold Out! Government gives in to supermarkets on Code Of Practice', News Updates 9/11/01,
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/supermarket_code.html

Every Little Hurts – Tesco on trial at its AGM 13^th June 2003
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/tescoAGM_2003.htm

Other resources

For a 'No. I haven’t got a f**king loyalty card!' t-shirt - Log on to www. fatlooby.com. £14.99 plus £2 postage.

To make your own 'Tesco Value Farmer: £2.90 per hour' T-shirt. Have a look at the FARM website – www.farm.org.uk

UK consumers against the pervasive use of RFID tags in UK society www.notags.co.uk/page4.html

Corporate Watch knows of many groups campaigning against Tesco developments/extensions and post office closures around the country. Please get in touch if you need support for your campaign.