We were contacted by a client in January 2019 who had been given notice that their whole business was being de-listed and moved to a competitor. They had been given four months’ notice that the business would be lost after supplying a Retailer for over 10 years.

Action

We reviewed all communication from the Retailer to assess whether they had acted in line with GSCOP & looked for areas that were not Code compliant. The aim of the review was to get the Retailer to;

1. extend notice period
2. review their decision based on facts

We advised our client that there were a number of actions by the Retailer that were not Code compliant and how to address these with the Buyer & how to escalate the decision to be fully reviewed by a Senior Director.

We supported the client in preparing for a meeting with the Senior Director & how to position their business as a high performing Supplier who had experienced a short period of disruption.  This was due to change of ownership & that investment & a change in personnel had re-positioned them as the best partner for the category with this Retailer.  

Result

The de-list decision was delayed & supply was split between our client & the potential new Supplier on a six-month trial basis with an open & transparent tender process at the end.

At the end of the six months our client retained full supply, the de-list was reversed and there were ongoing discussions about innovation & category plans.

Value to client

This was a contract worth in excess of £5.5m & as a result of our work this business was saved & a two-year agreement was put in place. The net benefit to our client was in excess of £12.9m.