Eastbourne supermarkets rated for protecting customers against the virus

The data was collated by the Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce in a bid to identify action to protect customers and the town as a matter of urgency and as infection rates continue to rise.

Of the nine supermarkets in the town visited at the end of December, ASDA at the Crumbles came last in terms of controlling the number of customers admitted to the store, cleaning baskets and trolleys and staff wearing protective masks.

Other stores surveyed included Sainsbury’s in The Beacon and Broadwater Way; Tesco at Lottbridge Drove; M&S; Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons and Waitrose.

Sainsbury’s in The Beacon came top in the survey followed by Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s in Broadwater Way, Waitrose, Morrisons, Aldi in Lottbridge Drove, Lidl in Seaside with ASDA coming last.

According to the Chamber of Commerce, when asked about cleaning protocols, one member of staff at ASDA said, “There’s no need to worry, the virus isn’t in Eastbourne.”

In an open letter to Roger Burley, the chief executive of ASDA, the chamber’s Nicky Fisher and Christina Ewbank said they were concerned about the level of customer protection in some supermarkets during the current pandemic and particularly in ASDA.

Ms Ewbank said, “ASDA, like other supermarkets can remain open and yet, since the first lockdown, the Eastbourne store, according to our own survey appears to have stopped limiting numbers of shoppers and is not insisting on a one-way system.

“Most importantly, the store is not cleaning touch screens or keypads and is not cleaning baskets or trolleys between customers.

“Supermarkets usually provide cleaning materials at the entrance and protective screens at the checkouts which is appreciated but clearly, this activity alone is not keeping the virus at bay as rising infection numbers in East Sussex have demonstrated.

“When your staff were asked about cleaning protocols they were unable to say when cleaning took place at tills, PDQs or touchscreens and your cashiers did not appear to be cleaning their till area regularly.

“We were told, ‘There’s no need to worry, the virus isn’t in Eastbourne’.

“The member of staff was given the latest infection figures and asked to pass this on to the management. Clearly this attitude is unhelpful and we would be grateful if the senior management team educate the staff on the seriousness of the current situation.

“As ASDA came last in our survey league table, the store was revisited a week later to see if things had improved. Unfortunately, they had not so we came and spoke to your duty manager, Stefan Waring on January 3. He was very helpful.”

Letters have also been sent to the chief executives of the other eight stores.

Each store was visited and inspected on clear signage, controlling customer numbers, staff cleaning trolleys and baskets, easily accessible sanitisation, well briefed staff, self checkout cleaning and staff wearing masks.

The Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce, which represents 600 members and 10,000 members of staff, has asked all the supermarkets to do more to stop the spread of the virus.

Ms Ewbank said, “If we are going to contain this virus we implore you to do more to protect your customers as a matter of urgency.

“So please, would you ensure your stores observe the following protocols: please ask your security teams to insist that all customers wear masks or display a disability lanyard excusing them at the entrance to each store. During our survey Tesco was the only supermarket in Eastbourne that displayed a prominent sign saying wearing of masks in the store is ‘mandatory’.

“Please appoint staff to spray and wipe all trolley and basket handles before they are handed over to customers. Unfortunately, leaving this to customers is not sufficient.

“Please spray and wipe payment touchscreens and PDQ key-pads frequently throughout the day, especially when it is busy.

“Please ensure that staff wipe down tills thoroughly when they open each till, before serving customers. This must include the PDQ machine.

“Please employ a member of staff at the front of every store to control numbers in all your stores and encourage people to socially distance.

“Lidl was very overcrowded on the day we surveyed the store and social distancing was virtually impossible. Please also reintroduce one-way systems.”