Tesco payments scandal: A verbal waterboarding was just the start of it

The supermarket's boss Dave Lewis, with his career built as a supplier, is the right man to instigate the needed changes

He has had a career in supply, so Dave Lewis is well placed to change the culture at Tesco (PA)

It is hardly surprising that Tesco was the biggest bully on the high street when it came to putting the screws on it suppliers. Any visit to the supermarket’s brutalist head office in Cheshunt would have warned off potential partners from expecting anything short of a verbal waterboarding.

But the extent of it is shocking: staff across virtually all parts of the business were encouraged systematically to withhold payments, create vague and obtuse contracts and manipulate sales figures.

Perhaps most shocking was the internal Tesco emails, found by the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), that said “not paying back money owed” to suppliers should be a legitimate way to meet half-year targets.

I would expect the Serious Fraud Office to want a copy of that email to see who could have thought this was a sensible policy.

Suffice to say that Tesco’s boss Dave Lewis, with his career built as a supplier, is the right man to instigate the needed changes – and he has gone a long way in doing that.

But to think that is the end of the matter is foolhardy. Changing a company culture can take years, if not decades. Mr Lewis would also be wise to look at how much possible lawsuits might ultimately cost.

The GCA, which showed its teeth impressively, wouldn’t say who it thought was responsible for giving the orders that nearly crippled the UK’s biggest retailer. Let’s hope the SFO takes its cue and brings the right people to justice.