Every Little Helps: Former Tesco boss Dave Lewis to advise UK govt on supply chains
- Reference: 1634024709
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/10/12/david_lewis_appointed/
- Source link:
He will be advising the country's prime minister, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, and its "Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster" – aka minister without portfolio Michael Gove – on both "immediate improvements and any necessary long term changes to UK supply chains for goods", working with officials to "quickly resolve acute, short term issues".
Gove, as some might remember, was the head of [2]Operation Yellowhammer , a task force that looked at "Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions" in the event of a no-deal Brexit, so, for better or worse, he has some form in this area.
[3]
The last The Reg heard of Lewis, who was [4]knighted earlier this year "for services to the food industry and business", was back in 2015, when [5]Tescocard developers learned that Britain's largest food retailer – at the time headed by the man himself – was appointing a team of advisors to explore "strategic options" to sell them off. The business had acquired big data and data science wrangler Dunnhumby back in 2004, with then Tesco chairman Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, [6]saying of the loyalty card devs: "What scares me about this, is that [they] know more about my customers in three months than I know in 30 years."
[7]Cloud, internet biz will take a Yellowhammer to the head in 'worst case' no-deal Brexit
[8]Cheeky chappy rides horse around London filling station, singing: 'I don't need petrol 'cos he runs on carrots'
[9]Oh the humanity: McDonald's out of milkshakes across Great Britain
[10]UK's 'minimum viable product' for Brexit transit software will not be ready until December, leaving no time for testing
Lewis joined Tesco in 2014. Despite the best efforts of the exec – nicknamed "Drastic Dave" for his penchant for making serious cuts – who'd hoped in 2015 to dump its network and data operations to cut capital expenditure by £1bn and achieve annual savings of £250m, Dunnhumby is still a Tesco subsidiary. The segment was valued at as much as £2bn when they appointed Goldman Sachs to explore options. The firm, started by Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby – both formerly employees of the UK arm of American software business CACI – appears to still be making coin. According to its [11]accounts made up to 29 February 2020 filed with Companies House, it made £356.63m in revenues down from £374.5m in fy2019, and £3.5m in net income for fy 2020, down from £14m the year before.
"Dave" Lewis will work closely with the Prime Minister, No10 and the Treasury, and will be based in the Cabinet Office. He has been appointed until the end of the year.
[12]
[13]
He will also co-chair the new Supply Chain Advisory Group, consisting of external experts in the field, and the new Industry Taskforce.
Johnson said in a canned quote: "There are currently global supply issues which we are working with industry to mitigate and Dave brings a wealth of experience which will help us continue to protect our businesses and supply chains."
[14]
In the US, President Joe Biden [15]signed an executive order ordering a 100-day review of weaknesses in critical logistics networks, including [16]semiconductor supply issues, back in February; in [17]March the country rolled out a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that included a $50bn bipartisan pledge – via the Chips for America Act – to boost chip R&D and fabrication. By [18]June , the US government had [19]pledged an additional $195bn for tech R&D to help stabilise supply chains and stimulate industry.
In the EU, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last month [20]talked up the bloc's upcoming European Chips Act, although it has not been said how much funding would be attached.
With regards to the UK's specific supply chain pain points – which are broader than semiconductors – the statement yesterday added the government had "acted quickly to introduce a series of measures to relieve pressure on vital supply chains, including by streamlining the testing process for HGV drivers, creating skills bootcamps to train up HGV drivers, as well as introducing short-term visas for fuel drivers, food haulage drivers and poultry workers to ease pressures facing these supply chains." ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-appoints-expert-supply-chain-advisor
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/12/cloud_providers_yellowhammer_brexit/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YWVczuCE1iUP6ymUvDe64QAAAJM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2021/01/former-tesco-ceo-dave-lewis-given-knighthood/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2015/01/08/tesco_preps_for_big_data_engine_dump_with_cash_on_the_balance_sheet_now_god/
[6] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/loyalty-card-costs-tesco-aps1bn-of-profits-but-is-worth-every-penny-90728.html
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/12/cloud_providers_yellowhammer_brexit/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/01/horse_petrol_panic_buyers/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/24/mcdonalds_out_of_milkshake/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/06/uk_border_software/
[11] https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02388853/filing-history
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YWVczuCE1iUP6ymUvDe64QAAAJM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YWVczuCE1iUP6ymUvDe64QAAAJM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YWVczuCE1iUP6ymUvDe64QAAAJM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/25/biden_chip_shortage_pledge/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/25/biden_chip_shortage_pledge/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/president_biden_broadband_chips_infrastructure/
[18] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/08/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-supply-chain-disruptions-task-force-to-address-short-term-supply-chain-discontinuities/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/09/us_innovation_and_competition_act_senate/
[20] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_21_4701
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Good luck
There's no denying, Tesco's knows a thing or two about logistics. Whether that expertise translates into a whole national economy, though, is not yet clear.
Maybe they should have thought about supply chains BEFORE breaking everything ?
But... but... but... what about that 350 million a week for the NHS...
Here is an idea.
Tell the media to shut up about constantly banging on about shortages. If the brain deads stop panic buying, we'd be OK.
OMG there is a shortage of Kellogs cornflakes! Well, buy that other fucking brand right next to them.
99% of the "shortages" just mean you have to buy a different brand, or (insert deity) forbid, you don't buy that item this week
#firstworldproblems
Re: Here is an idea.
It's not panic buying if there's a real shortage. It's not panic buying if you can see the shelves are already empty. It's not panic buying if over 1/4 of garages are not getting deliveries and you need to get to hospital. It's the media's job to report that and they would be failing if they didn't.
Buying the next brand is fine until it runs out, or you're allergic to one of the ingredients, or there are no other brands left. Stop blaming the problem on the symptoms, we should all know the actual cause of the problems by now.
Re: Here is an idea.
@myithingwontcharge
"It's not panic buying if there's a real shortage"
Panic buying causes a real shortage. Thats why people were acting stupid and dangerous (and illegally) as they put petrol into water containers and bin bags. There was no fuel shortage until demand jumped 500%. At the best of times that cannot be handled. Same when toilet roll ran out after brexit, there was plenty of it but it was in the warehouse because such excessive demand could not be known in advance.
Re: Here is an idea.
last year I couldn't get pasta or flour for weeks or more because of the panic buying.
I made something else to eat instead, I learned that you can use peeled leeks instead of pasta sheets in a lasagne, I found recipes for flour free foods... I adapted and I survived... although my waistline didn't during the first lockdown due to trying out all these alternate recipes and gaining 8kg between March- August. :)
But I did eventually lose 9kg to make up for it.
Focus on essentials first
If they want to fix things, they start with the essentials... because well all know 100% that your average person one the street will panic and turn into a selfish wanker at the merest hint of a supply issue... Toilet roll, flour, pasta... petrol... We've seen them all over the last 18 months or so. Not because there was any real serious shortage of anything, but because the implied shortage caused mass hysteria that caused the shortage.
So focus on essential supplies... resources to industry and food chains... food stuffs to shops... fuel to petrol stations... and so forth and so forth.
The last thing people need is a 1 day rush for a bit of wrapping paper from amazon because you want to get ready for xmas... non essentials can wait a few days.
If people stopped being selfish and entitled... a lot of these 'so called shortages' would never happen to begin with.
Also
Fuck the media for stoking those fires and making it 10 times worse... if they'd stopped fanning the flames every couple of hours... things wouldn't get as bad.
Re: Focus on essentials first
"Focus on essentials first "
You mean all the things brexit broke and the country (including all my local Tesco stores it seems) now has no staff and resources to fix. I wish him good luck. :-)
Hint: That was actually the original issue and blaming the press and public for it is just gaslighting.
Re: Focus on essentials first
Focusing on a single issue... IE Brexit... is a narrow minded way to look at the whole picture. It's just a single part of the problem.
There isn't a worker shortage... there's a shitty job/wage environment problem. Pay people crappy wages, treat them as disposable and toss them aside whenever you can... and people won't want to work in your industry.
That existed long before brexit... leaving the EU only showed what a shitshow it was before. It's highlighted the problems and done nothing to fix them... only broke them further.
But it's not the 'cause' of turning non existant shortages into actual shortages.
So what if people can't their new shiny for a few extra days... if arseholes stopped being selfish inconsiderate arseholes for a few moments...and if the media stopped creating bigger issues than actually exist... things would be better for everyone.
Good luck
I hope he can make a positive contribution. Not sure what he can do about the short term but the faster we can get resources available for a boom of growth the better.