The heads of the big four UK supermarkets have expressed concerns over rising costs and likely delays to the Competition Commission's inquiry into the grocery sector.
The Commission is due to publish the first stage of its probe before Christmas. However, the Sunday Telegraph said the Commission has indicated the timetable may slip, with publication occurring in early January.
The Commission has received more than 250 submissions, and Tesco's preliminary dossier ran to 10,000 pages.
Justin King, ceo of Sainsbury’s, said last week that the commission's document is unlikely to come out until next year. "Our sense is that we will hear after Christmas, not before. The commission has admitted that the timetable could slip. We are still aiming for December but there is a possibility that if we get too close to Christmas we will delay it until early January," he said.
Andy Bond, the chief executive of Asda described the investigation as "tiring". “It is going to cost a lot of money and the lawyers are going to have another year of bonuses. We have calculated that the industry will spend £30m in legal fees and our spend will be proportionate," he said.
