NFRN National President Alan Smith (pictured) said: “We are concerned that this increase from EM News is exactly the same as that announced by its main holding company and we must question why the increases (together with those from Smiths News) are so similar. Based on the very different fuel prices alone in Ireland we will be asking EM News to explain their rationale for the increase.
“It also further demonstrates why we need a positive response from our Competition Appeal and a reversal of the OFT’s decision not to refer the market to the Competition Commission for a full market investigation, since this is the only way we will see a resolution to this ongoing scandalous rip off.
“The formula used in calculating carriage charges has never been agreed by the NFRN and in our view it is unfairly favourable to large retailers groups,” said Mr Smith, adding: “With recent newspaper and magazine sales data showing the gap is narrowing between selling the commodities at a profit or loss, yet again it is the independent retailer who is paying the price for a distribution system that has, at its heart, a flawed and unacceptable practice of below cost tendering by wholesalers for distribution contracts. Only a full review will bring these practices into the full glare of scrutiny.”
