Co-op’s ‘unknown leakage’ costs £1.4m in one year
Tuesday 26th January 2010, 2:30PM GMT.
THE Channel Islands Co-operative Society lost more than £1.4m. in ‘unknown leakage’ in the year to 11 January 2009.
The sum includes between £425,000 and £560,000 estimated to have disappeared through theft by staff annually.
The figures were quoted at an Employment and Discrimination Tribunal at which a former employee, Damien Ormrod, unsuccessfully claimed he had been unfairly dismissed.
CI Co-op chief executive Jim Hopley (pictured) said that while the figures might seem ‘horrific’, they were well within industry standards for a company that had a turnover of £142m. in its food retail business last year.
‘The standard for the industry is between 1.5% and 2% but our figure is about 1% and slightly less in Guernsey,’ he said.
‘Some shrinkage can be identified, goods being sold cheap because they are near their sell-by date or items that are damaged and can’t be sold,’ he said. ‘But then you have your unknown leakage.’
That could be theft by customers or staff, differences between what is delivered and what is invoiced by the supply base or administration errors.
The loss to staff members was based only on the percentage of the total figure that the industry estimates it should be and there was no hard evidence to support the figures.
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LOL Tony Blair would be proud of that euphemism.
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My advocate is looking into how this has been reported.
rarely can the press have reported that a whole workforce is on the take.
Peter Roffey your silence is deafening.
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Kevin
Quite agree, what a shocking remark that last paragraph is. What’s more it is still there. I can appreciate that what is printed in the paper cannot be recalled, but that remark on here should have been removed immediately your post was passed for release, together with an appology and explanation. Unless of course they stand by it.
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Kevin,
I too am upset at how this story could come across. The co-op has certainly not suggested that many of their staff are dishonest. Indeed we are convinced that the huge majority are not only completely honest but are dedicated, loyal and our best asset. Just as the huge majority of our customers are not shop lifters. Unfortunately staff and shoppers are both human beings and a small minority are dishonest – that is simply a fact of life.
Its important to realise that the story doesn’t arise from the co-op going to the Press complaining about the amount of staff theft it suffers. Rather it arises from the Press seeing our evidence given to an unfair dismissal tribunal. It was important to tell that tribunal the scale of the problem so that our actions in that particular case could be seen in context.
The figure of £1.4M is correct but it is also right that this represents under 1% of turn over and is well under the industry average. In other words the co-op’s staff are even more honest than those of a typical retailer.
I really do apologise to any co-op employee who may have read into this story a suggestion from the co-op that they don’t trust their staff. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course we need systems in place to combat theft by the public or staff but we believe the overwhelming number of our employees are absolutely straight and – as I said earlier – our best asset.
Unfortunately we can’t control the way a story comes across and unfair dismissal procedures are, rightly, in the public domain.
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Kevin
Don’t know what your advocate is looking into but it seems to me this is a straight report of information put to a legally constituted tribunal, and therefore privileged.
Editor Digard can sleep tight!!!!!
Mr Roffey says the evidence does not suggest that staff are dishonest. Looking at the figures it seems that a third of the leakage is due to theft by staff. I suppose the individual reader will decide whether they feel this is acceptable or not.
I mst say the £425,000 and £560,000 estimated to have disappeared through theft by staff annually seems high. Just divide by 52 and you see a significant weekly sum.
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stephen john
it exactly because of ill informed people like you that i’m not a happy bunny.
have you got any concept of what £560,000 worth of groceries looks like.
oh i give up! afterall it’s only supermarket staff we’re talking about.
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Kevin
Pssssssst!
Are you the same that was knocking out fillet steak & king prawns at £5 a kilo in the pub the other week?
I heard a quiet whisper to get in quick n place my name on the order list for luxury Easter eggs at £2 a pop.
Also many are desperate for fags n backy!
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paul
that’s a wicked sense of humour you have!
I’m going to have to take some staff on to cope with demand.
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Kevin
Put me down for as many Marlboro Red as you can get. Also red wine and bottles of real ale would be appreciated………..
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Kevin
Try thinking before you start typing.
My point was that the alleged CoOp statement that ” £425,000 and £560,000 estimated to have disappeared through theft by staff annually” is when translated to a weekly rate a figure that looks far too high and puts the staff in a bad light. It’s one hell of a lot of groceries per week.
If you bother to read the article it is clear the allegation comes from the CoOp management. It seems to me to be a very high figure and one that to an ill informed reader such as myself seems too high and not fair to the staff. I don’t know if the figure is too low, too high or right. It seems to me to be too high
Perhaps you should vent your spleen at Mr Hopley or one of the local directors and seek from them further elaboration.
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stephen john
keep your nasty little comments to yourself please.
one thing you write in your post is that you dont know. enough said.
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SJ
I would say that figure is in fact excellent considering the evidence. They would need less than a handful of enterprising, help yourselves, knock off Nigel’s like Kevin to be in real trouble.
Forget about the advocate Kev the police are now on your case!
Seriously though. When one considers the bigger picture these figures are nothing to worry about at all.
Small amounts are shoplifted. Larger amounts will be lifted by the staff. From the top. Down to the shelf stacker helping themselves to crafty snacks whilst on night shifts.
Many staff will deliberately dent the odd tin or break packaging in order to gain a cheaper shopping bill!
See you in the local tonight then Kev. Let things cool down for a bit mate!
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Kevin
Any chance of a couple of litres of Vodka and a selection of fine cheeses from the deli counter…
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yeh yeh guys!
i can see the funny side of it now. at least you’ve injected a bit of humour.
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I think the Co-op is trying to make the customers pay for their loss by trying to sell us what they call vegetables, I have to say the St. Sampsons branch is passable but up St Martins last Wednesday the vegetables were a disgrace, I did not even want to feed them to my rabbit and yesterday at Vazon reduced sprouts were almost unrecognisable. I would rather see no veg at all than that rubbish.
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There was some discussion on Radio Guernsey(unrelated to the Co-op) about seasonable vegetables; the story loosley based upon food miles and grapes from Belize etc.
One caller phoned in and railed against anyone suggesting that he couldn’t have his strawberries on Christmas Day. It was his ‘family tradition’ – his words.
The chap sounded substantially older than me and in my youth strawberries were a summer event in road side punnets. How quickly consumer expectations change eh?
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Oh my god Neil this was nothing as fancy as strawberries I was after, I was looking for any vegetable that was green, which proved to be very difficult.
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