International caterer Compass Group is under scrutiny after a contract uncovered by the Times revealed some allegedly unsavoury business practices.

The newspaper claimed it has uncovered a document which allegedly showed Compass demanded more than £1 million in advance from major cleaning products manufacturer Robert Scott & Sons to secure a three-year contract.

Robert Scott also had to agree to double the price of some goods to the third-party operator that distributes them and return the extra cash to Compass.

A spokesman for Compass refused to comment on the situation but said the supplier in question would not have agreed to sign the contract if he was not happy.

However, Alastair Scott, sales director at Robert Scott, said the seized contract was only a draft version and he had no problem with supplying Compass.

Meanwhile, other suppliers questioned by The Times said they were used to facing such tactics in the industry.

However, one supplier was prepared to speak out against the company’s behaviour.

“There is a total lack of transparency in the way Compass does its purchasing and that is a concern. Using its sheer scale to drive purchasing synergies is not a crime, but the way it goes about it leaves a nasty taste,” it said.

The pressure Compass puts on suppliers made headlines last year when the group said it had paid out several million pounds to save the chilled distribution section of Peter’s Food Service from folding.

The company also fired three top executives earlier this month following a UN investigation into the way is secured a contract to cater for its peacekeeping officials.

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