Interviews

To date the researchers have conducted over 70 interviews with representatives from a wide range of stakeholders relevant to the project, including:

• Major supermarket chains and other grocery retailers
• Wholesalers
• Large and small suppliers and supplier groups
• The ACCC
• Industry associations representing retailers and suppliers, farmers' federations and fruit and vegetable growers associations
• Code of conduct committees
• Politicians who have played a lead role in the supermarket debate
• Local government agencies and shopping centre councils and developers
• Planning courts and tribunals
• Consumer groups
• Small business associations
• Community groups

These interviews have allowed the researchers to explore how a range of actors perceive the regulatory goals and process and their views on the issues raised by the case studies particularly, including their perspectives on the relative effectiveness of existing and proposed regulatory instruments.

Interviews have been conducted with policymakers, regulators and leading commentators in the UK (e.g. from the Competition and Markets Authority, the former Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission, and the Grocery Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon) to understand how the issues relating to supermarket regulation are being approached in that jurisdiction.

In compliance with University ethics safeguards, interviewees have been guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality, undertakings as to which were set out in a Plain Language Statement, and interviewees were required to sign a consent form, consenting to the interview and its recording, as well as any individual naming arrangements in publications, before the interview commenced.

The professional service used to transcribe the interview recordings is under contractual obligations of confidence. Professor Beaton-Wells is responsible for the secure custody of the interview data. The audio recordings, transcripts and codings are kept in locked facilities on University premises, access to this material on computer is by the project team only and is password-protected. The interview material will be kept for at least 5 years, after which it will be disposed of using a University approved confidential disposal service.

• To view a list of individual interviews to date click here.
• To view the general interview questionnaire template click here.
• To view the interview questionnaire template for the planning case study click here.

If you are interested in participating in an interview, or wish to suggest potential interviewees to us, please contact our research fellow:

Jo Paul, Research Fellow, The Supermarket Power Project