Supermarket take-over

Price wars - Asda Walmart is at the forefront. Photo: PA Images

Asda is one of Yorkshire's very own supermarkets.

These days it's owned by global retail giant Walmart.

But, seven years since the Americans took over, what's really happened to Asda?

Job losses

Inside Out spoke to two former employees about their personal experiences of being made redundant by the company.

Between them Erana Grice and Ann Burke have clocked up nearly 50 years service at Asda's Rotherham store.

Both were made redundant last summer in a wave of 1,400 managerial job losses at Asda stores countrywide.

Now, they won't even shop there anymore.

Ann says, "I worked for Asda for 29 years straight from school. It's a long time to be with a company and then just get finished like that."

Erana feels the same way:

"I was 200% behind that company - because I helped to build it.

"And to be treated so callously is very difficult to deal with."

Although the two women can't speak on behalf of the whole of Asda's redundant staff, they feel it's been hard to come to terms with being made redundant.

After all, they were there throughout the company's phenomenal growth to become one of the UK's top four supermarkets

Yorkshire roots

The Asda story started in Castleford when a group of Yorkshire farmers got together and opened their very first supermarket back in the 1960s.

The first Asda store - the Queens - was convenient, cheap and incredibly successful.

A new one-stop way of shopping in Britain was born.

The old Asda based on a farmers' collective. Photo: PA Images

Asda traded heavily on its friendly farmer image even as it grew to become one of Britain's biggest supermarkets.

Then, in 1999, the Americans moved in.

Erana remembers it well, "Things really started to change when Walmart came on board...

"They came into the store and hit us with the bombshell.

"I went on sick because I couldn't cope. I went on anti depressants.

Ann says, "We'd been loyal to the company and thought we were safe.

"You were called in to be told your job wasn't there anymore... I'd given loyalty, but I got none back.

"There was no compassion, no aftercare. With the old Asda we'd have got more compassion. With Walmart it's all a bit cut and dried."

Staff concerns

The GMB union claim that Asda is one of the most autocratic employers that it deals with.

At a GMB union meeting of Asda shop stewards, Inside Out heard concerns about staff pay, pressure to work despite sickness, and worsening working terms and conditions.

Neil Derrick from the GMB says:

"If you're like any other business and you put profit first, don't portray yourself as the best employer in the UK - be honest about it."

In February 2006, in an employment tribunal in Newcastle, Asda was penalised to the tune of £850,000 for offering wage increases to workers if they gave up collective bargaining rights.

Walmart - lifting the lid?

Walmart is the world's biggest retailer, with a turnover in 2005 of $312 billion.

It raked in a profit of $11 billion.

The Walton family who own Walmart are among the 13 richest people in the world - with around $100 billion of personal wealth between them.

It is the largest employer on the planet - with over 1 million workers.

A documentary film called Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
is soon to be released in cinemas worldwide, which claims to lift the lid on the true nature of the Walmart corporation.

His film lists a catalogue of concerns over the Walmart operation worldwide, claiming a widespread use of sweatshops in the Far East lies behind many of its low prices in the US.

Walmart leading the retail revolution. Photo: PA Images

The film accuses the company's aggressive expansion plans of wrecking small town American economies by pricing out the competition.

It also claims an anti-union Walmart pays US workers so little, they have to rely on state benefits to supplement their income and make ends meet.

The film's Director Robert Greenwald says of Walmart:

"Their image had been squeaky clean, but it's no longer.

"They're destroying lives. And they're destroying lives of people who are hard working, and who have done nothing wrong.

"Do you want to have your choice of where to shop being taken away from you?

"Do you want all the local shop owners driven out of business?"

He says that Asda Walmart is a corporation bent on expansion:

"They're not going to change their policy or their approach... and they have one thing on their minds which is more, more, and then more."

Business sense

But isn't this common business sense?

After all, aren't all businesses driven by maximising their profits?

In their defence Walmart says:

"Asda is still very much a British retailer run by home grown talent.

"Being part of Walmart has enabled them to be a better Asda. They've introduced an all-colleague bonus, and flexible working schemes."

It says the Greenwald film verges on propaganda, and maintains much of its content is flawed.

However, it says Walmart is engaging with its critics and is addressing concerns and changing for the better.

Price wars

When Walmart bought Asda, Britain's entire retail market went into a spin.

Fearing Walmart size and power would wipe them out, the other supermarkets began a battle for low prices - which they're still fighting today.

Lincolnshire farmer Peter Lundgren reckons farmers bear the brunt of the supermarkets price wars:

"I'm rearing these pigs and selling them to restaurants and individuals because I just cannot get a viable price by selling to supermarkets."

We've seen the other supermarkets respond to the challenge from Walmart by driving down the price they pay to the farmer, and pushing up the price the consumer is expected to pay.

The problem is, the supermarkets dominate the food chain - 70%-80% of food goes through supermarkets.

The four main supermarkets are now so powerful, farmers really have very little option as to where they can sell their product.

Asda is often the first to announce big rounds of price cuts pretty much every January.

This then triggers price wars between the other supermarkets keen keep their competitive edge.

"One of the nastiest tricks pulled by the supermarkets is the 'Buy One, Get One Free' offers," says farmer Peter Lundgren.

It's not the supermarket being very generous and nice to its customers - they actually only pay the farmer for every second cauliflower or cabbage.

One retail analyst told Inside Out that it isn't just Asda that we should be blaming:

"Asda has won plaudits for how it treats it employees, so you can't say they're any worse than the competition.

"Yes, they have problems with the unions, but that's part and parcel of the retail business for you, they all have to deal with this.

"So you can't point the finger at Asda - in fact in some ways they're superior to how they treat their employees and suppliers."

We approached Asda over concerns about its workers and suppliers here in the UK, but the company declined to be interviewed on camera.

Links relating to this story:

• Walmart
• ASDA
• GMB Union
• Robert Greenwald

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Emergency vehicles and accidents

Race against time - but at what cost?

They’re a lifeline… the difference between life and death.

Whether its fire, ambulance or police, when you dial 999 you expect help to arrive within minutes.

Inside Out has discovered worrying new evidence which suggests your emergency services are taking longer to reach their destinations, and a startling number of emergency vehicles will never actually arrive because they’re involved in accidents themselves.

Our researchers discovered that there were more than 1,000 accidents involving emergency vehicles responding to an emergency on Yorkshire and Lincolnshire roads last year - that’s more than three accidents every day!

Tough job

Inside Out goes out on shift with South Yorkshire Fire Service and South Yorkshire Ambulance Service to find out why.

These drivers answer tens of thousands of emergency calls every year and have one of the toughest jobs you can imagine.

But everyday they're held up by other vehicles getting in the way and acting unpredictably.

They say the public's reaction to blue lights and sirens can drastically increase the amount of time it takes for them to reach an emergency - and in this line of work, seconds count.

One South Yorkshire Fire Crew has damaged over half a million pounds worth of machinery, and only a couple of months ago was forced off the road and into a house.

Risk of accidents

But these new figures are of great concern to people like Drs Roger Higson.

His daughter Emily was killed by a police car driving at over 60mph in a 30mph zone.

Speeding fears - action required for emergency drivers

He says that there are numerous discrepancies between the training given to full-time traffic officers and constables driving 'squad' cars.

He believes that all drivers sanctioned to drive under blue lights and sirens should be subject to personality tests to ensure they are able to cope in stressful response driving.

Road safety charity Brake is similarly worried by our figures.

They told us that no emergency vehicles should break a speed limit, and the blue lights and sirens should be enough to ensure they get to they're destination quickly and safely.

They also think the training of emergency drivers needs to be examined and tightened up for the safety of the drivers themselves and for members of the public.

Police accidents

The police in particular have come in for criticism.

Last year the numbers of people killed by police vehicles increased by 70% and injuries increased by over 60%.

But West Yorkshire Police have a new revolutionary tactic to help - their new recruits beat the traffic and those moving obstacles.

When approaching busy junctions or red lights, rather than racing through unannounced, they're trained to switch off all the lights and sirens to allow the situation in front to develop.

This is a a tactic they hope will help to reduce accidents without increasing response times.

Links relating to this story:

• Inside Out West Midlands - Police accidents
• South Yorkshire Fire Service
• Brake
• South Yorkshire Ambulance
• West Yorkshire Police

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Rockin' the north

We predict a riot of bands following the Kaiser's success

The Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys are amongst the UK's hottest new bands.

They're just two of the latest wave of rock acts produced by Yorkshire's booming music scene.

So why are Yorkshire's bands top of the pops again?

We asked veteran rocker Rick Wakeman to find out.

Capital of cool

So just where is the UK's capital of rock and roll?

It's not Liverpool or London, it's not Glasgow or Gateshead, it's
Leeds and Sheffield - it's Yorkshire.

And this shift in the axis of power is hugely significant.

For the last 20 years the music industry has been completely dominated by the success of bands from Manchester - Stone Roses, New Order, Happy Mondays and Oasis.

But even Tony Wilson, the godfather of the Manchester music scene, begrudgingly admits that perhaps his lot have had their day, and the new young bands from Yorkshire have taken centre stage.

Take the Kaiser Chiefs - their album Employment has sold a million, they've won three BRIT awards, and they're great performers.

They've cracked it.

The Kaisers play no-nonsense, quirky, no frills, sing-along-a-rock n' roll.

So who better to explain their sudden rise to fame than the Kaiser's singer, Ricky Wilson:

"The band had been playing around the Leeds scene for a few years when they decided to change tack from a sort of grungy indie thing to a style that is all their own."

This change in tack has obviously paid off handsomely with the band becoming flavour of the year.

The phenomenal success of the Kaiser Chiefs is based on good songs and hard work - and this work ethic has undoubtedly rubbed off on other young bands from Yorkshire.

A thriving live music scene has also helped with local venues putting on a large number of up and coming bands from the region.

As a result the music moguls have been hurtling up the M1 looking for new talent to sign.

But they are too late - the fans have already sorted it.

Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys from Sheffield did it their way - building up a solid fan base and leaping a step ahead of the music industry with their own clever marketing.

Every teenager with access to a computer has a share in this band.

The band gave away CDs at gigs, the fans dowloaded the tunes for nothing, and the buzz just got bigger and bigger.

At last this was a band that the fans felt that they could be at one with.

The band's success is all the more remarkable because of the way they've achieved their record sales.

Watch Arctic Monkeys playing on BBC Collective

Although most people under the age of 18 already had their songs on their mp3 players, the fans still chose to pay the band back.

Arctic Monkey's two singles - both number ones - and their debut album flew off the shelves.

The album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, has become the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history.

Released on January 23, 2005 it has already sold more than 360,000 copies.

Some retailers have likened its impact to that of The Beatles 40 years ago.

Music cities

Of course Sheffield has been centre of the musical universe before.

Cock-a-hoop: Sheffield becomes a sensuous, cinematic city

It is one of those place that breeds unique music - a village in a city.

Like now, the bands spoke to the generation of the time about the things that mattered to them.

Bands like Pulp wrote about the virtues and virtues of Sheffield in songs like Sheffield - Sex City:

"Intake, Manor Park, The Wicker, Norton, Freshville, Hackenthorpe, Shalesmoor, Wombwell, Catcliffe, Brincliffe, Attercliffe, Ecclesall, Woodhouse, Wybourn...

"The whole city is your jewellery-box; a million twinkling yellow street lights.

"Reach out and take what you want; you can have it all."

Today Arctic Monkeys' songs also draw on the Northern cultural landscape with references to bars, bouncers and dance floors.

Jarvis Cocker has said that the Monkeys' success is a lesson for the music industry - they have got to the top on their own terms.

Leeds leads the way

Only human - in a different league

Leeds has also come a long way since Dexy's Midnight Runners sang:

"Lord have mercy upon me - Keep me away from Leeds".

Today it's a thriving hotbed of new bands.

But who is top of the pops when it comes to Yorkshire's pop and rock bands down the years?

Inside Out has put together its own chart based on Rick Wakeman's whimsical top five.

Bubbling under we have Black Lace, Beautiful South, Robert Palmer, Smokey and Def Leppard..

At number five it's the Human League, at four - it's Pulp.

The Arctic Monkeys are currently at number three, with the Kaisers at two.

So the new boys haven't made it to the very top just yet.

They've got to stand the test of time - Yorkshire's number one so far is '60s Sheffield star, Joe Cocker.

Links relating to this story:

• BBC North Yorkshire - Bands A-Z
• BBC News - Arctic Monkeys make chart history
• British Phonographic Industry
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Arctic Monkeys

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