Tesco Values – Intolerance, Exclusion and Hope
by Daid Robertson, theweeflea:
I was looking forward to the gig; a Solas talk and discussion in a somewhat unusual venue – the cafe in Tesco’s main store, Coatbridge. According to the organisers the Tesco staff had been brilliant – welcoming and very helpful, even opening the cafe especially for the event. ‘Good for them’, I thought, ‘here is a big corporation who are prepared to have community engagement, maybe I was wrong about Tesco’s’. The cafe had been booked for two months, all the publicity done and things were looking good.
I was enjoying the drive down with my new Director, Dr Andy Bannister, until we got just past the Stirling services when we got a phone call from the organisers. ‘Sorry – we’ve had a nightmare afternoon, Tescos have pulled the plug and we’re having to rearrange the meeting to the church’. It was too late to cancel, so that meant coffee and food had to be quickly arranged, as many people informed as possible, and stewards sent to the Tesco store to re-direct people.
Why did Tesco pull the plug at the last minute? It was not local – the local cafe manager was superb. The first phone call said it was something to do with ‘equality’. The next one from some higher up manager, who refused to give anything other than his first name, gave a variety of excuses
It’s a rally – no its not its a lecture with a question and answer session which is open to anyone. It’s not a political party, religious service or a rally.
We don’t know the numbers – Neither do we…thats the point of an open meeting. Do you ever know the numbers that will come to your store or cafe before you open it? I guess when its full you don’t keep packing people in. Why would this be any different?
We don’t know the content – Yes you do. Its a talk on whether religion is the cause of strife in society and a question and answer session that follows from that.
It does not fit Tesco’s ‘values’ – Ah – now we get to the real heart of the matter. What are these Tesco values which prevent free speech and an open discussion on a subject which is important to the wider community? Tesco post about their values (read about them Here) – its full of corporate newspeak which is meaningless without actions. By their fruit you shall know them!
Understanding people – customers, colleagues, communities – and what matters to them, and then trying to make those things better, is at the heart of Tesco
If Tesco’s corporate manager ‘Scott’ was just imposing his own values, and discriminating on the basis of them, then his bosses should deal with him. If on the other hand Scott was just reflecting ‘Tesco Values’ then Tesco need to change their values. Given that there was a great deal of interest in this subject in the local community, and that it matters to many people, how does banning a talk at the last minute fit these values? What about the inconvenience and expense for all those involved? It was a subject of great interest to the local community (the church we moved to was packed with around 100 people from a variety of backgrounds). It was not political, it was not a religious worship meeting (there was no open prayer, or religious worship), it was not an attack upon any particular group. It was not discriminatory – it was open to all and sundry. So what was the problem?
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