Tesco ‘awesome teamwork’ tweet slammed by Tory MP

04-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 05-Jul-2013 at 09:46 GMT

Tesco's 'awesome teamwork' tweet appeared to celebrate job losses, said Robert Halfon

A Tory MP has slammed a tweet from a senior Tesco manager who praised the way five depots were axed as an example of "awesome teamwork”.

Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harlow MP, complained the comment – from Steve Strachota, the retail giant’s distribution director – on the social media network Twitter appeared to celebrate the depot closures.

Strachota’s tweet concerned the closure of Tesco’s depot in in Harlow, in Essex, with 800 staff, Barlborough, near Chesterfield, which has 400 workers and Weybridge, in Surrey, where 650 people work.

‘Difficult decisions’

Tesco later apologised for any offence the comment caused and withdrawn the comment from Twitter. “This tweet was intended to acknowledge that difficult decisions had been taken in order to make significant changes to our distribution network,” a spokeswoman told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

“Where colleagues raised concerns about the nature of the comment, Steve acted straight away to apologise and explain his intentions. The tweet has now been removed.”

Halfon has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons calling on MPs to express disappointment at Tesco's "treatment" of affected staff.

The not-so-neat tweet

"5 depots closing and 3 new ones ready to go. Awesome teamwork, courageous leadership, a bit of luck".

Steve Strachota