Richard Walker: Coronavirus has brought out the best in retail

Retailers who are normally the fiercest of competitors have started talking freely to each other, sharing information and ideas, and standing shoulder to shoulder in a combined effort to feed the nation.

The government has effectively nationalised the workforce and relaxed some of the normal industry competition rules. Defra and the BRC are promoting industry coordination and cooperation as never seen before.

The coronavirus emergency really has brought out the best, and worst, in people.

One of the most critical issues all food retailers have had to address is panic buying. I can understand why people are fearful given the endless images we are confronted with, online and in the mainstream media, of desolate supermarket shelves and terror-stricken shoppers.

But stockpiling is inherently socially divisive. It is only an option for those who can afford it and stripping the supermarket shelves denies poorer and more vulnerable people of the chance to buy the things they need.

“Our team actually went around other outlets buying toilet rolls so that they could give one to each elderly customer with their shopping”

Production has not dried up. Although some factories are beginning to see the effects of staff going into self-isolation, ample quantities of food and toilet roll are still coming through. The current shortages will largely be resolved once people revert to their normal shopping habits, which I’m pleased to report is starting to happen.

On a positive note, we have seen numerous acts of kindness by our wonderful colleagues and customers. In Letchworth, our team actually went around other outlets buying toilet rolls so that they could give one to each elderly customer with their shopping.

A supervisor in our Burnley store personally assembled and delivered the grocery order of a self-isolating elderly couple who could not secure an online delivery slot.

In Croxteth, an off-duty paramedic kindly drove a pensioner and his shopping home when we were unable to offer our usual home delivery service.

On the other side of the coin, we have seen the sickening destruction of two of our much-needed delivery vans in a night of disturbances in Southmead, Bristol, and far, far too many instances of our store colleagues being abused and physically assaulted by angry customers, usually enraged about stock shortages or resentful of efforts to impose limits on their purchases.

“We have always called our store teams ‘frontline colleagues’, but the last two weeks really have felt like the front line of a war”

Selfishness, rudeness and a total lack of care for others are sadly part of every shop worker’s daily experience right now.

Yet those who work in retail have never been more in need. We have always called our store teams ‘frontline colleagues’, but the last two weeks really have felt like the front line of a war.

We are doing our very best to protect them by enforcing the new social distancing rules – limiting the number of customers allowed in each store, putting down tape to enforce the two-metre social distancing separation and installing protective screens for every till in every store.

We have ordered vast quantities of hand sanitisers, face masks and gloves, which are taking far too long to materialise. Although we now have hand sanitisers for our colleagues in all stores, we still don’t have enough to provide them for customer use. One million gloves arrived for our store teams at the weekend, but the face masks that were promised weeks ago are now only scheduled to be with us this week.

It is all very well for the government to lay down the law on what retailers must do to protect their colleagues and customers, but it would help if they could give us some more practical support in expediting the delivery of the personal protective equipment I desperately want to offer to all our store colleagues and home delivery drivers. The delays in this supply chain are one of my biggest frustrations right now.

The situation changes day to day and hour to hour, and the ability to think laterally and act quickly is at a premium. We were the first retailer to introduce priority shopping periods for the elderly and vulnerable. We are now having to consider whether this remains appropriate when those are precisely the groups most strongly urged to stay home.

“If you are healthy, not in a vulnerable category and adhere to social distancing guidelines, please do shop in store. This will enhance priority online for those who need it most”

In his seminal address to the nation on Monday, the prime minister urged everyone to use food delivery services wherever possible. But the reality is that current demand is vastly exceeding supply. We have done our best to restrict online ordering to the elderly, vulnerable and self-isolating, and we are working hard to make more delivery slots available, but each release is quickly snapped up.

Therefore, I would actually urge the opposite of the prime minister. If you are healthy, not in a vulnerable category and adhere to social distancing guidelines, please do shop in store, responsibly. This will enhance priority online for those who need it most.

This enforced period of lockdown for billions of people around the world will be severely testing at a most personal level. But it is also an opportunity to reflect upon how heavily we tread on this planet, and the ultimate importance of family, friends and community.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.