It will not be news or a surprise to you that many 'suppliers', myself included, have always treated their retailers as customers.I know however that the thrust of your comments is directed at larger, primarily British distributors.

It makes me smirk stupidly to think that 'les gros chats' in our little industry are finally being forced to think of the needs of the great unwashed.Anyone that has spent any time in the field knows that the average delivery from a British supplier stands a good chance of having something missing. 

However, as the dispatch and delivery points are not normally separated by a pond, things turn out right in the end apart from the retailer's phone bill. I guess that this lends a new definition to 'just in time' supply.Any continental supplier that tried the same would fail in an instant. 

Those of us from beyond Calais may be more expensive (not always), but we get it right more of the time.