But he is "on message" repeating the CC mantra that small shops are not threatened. He told MPs that "there are no barriers to success if shops have a good product" and the CC would do little to change the market.

There is irony here. Suppliers who have laid low, barely making a complaint in public about multiple abuse of power, will get beefed up protection from the Big Four in the shape of a new code of practice with teeth. And they are multi-million pound businesses just like their enemy.

That will be the only result of the CC probe - the product of a process initiated by FWD in its Competition Appeals Tribunal action, taken up by ACS, NFRN, RSA and other lobbies setting out to defend minnow businesses.

Strewth!

TIMED. When Sir Stuart Rose was the boss at Booker his many competitors believed him to be a little distant from the front line consisting of thousands of small shops, many of them modest, some very modest.

As a cricket-loving sophisticate - so said other wholesalers - could he appreciate the problems of small shops? We now have the answer - and it's yes. He was not afraid of visiting retailers in their shops and " exchanging views".

Now entangled in media-fuelled rows about his M&S underpants, Sir Stuart is remembered by one independent who revealed: "He phoned the shop on his way and said I'd got just 10 minutes of his time to air my complaint. He marched in - and that's all I got - not a second more and not a second less."

RAPPORT. Nowadays it is de rigueur for chief executives of wholesale companies to visit their retailers' shops and discuss problems, handle complaints, be nice to the retailer's wife and mother-in-law ... kissing of babies will soon be required.

Who would take the prize for most visits to retailers out of the current crop of top bosses? Steve Parfett's name inevitably crops up during discussions of this nature - he's a grocer's grandson anyway - but there are one or two more chief execs who call into shops informally and often.

National Independents' Week in 2007 saw a lot of executive time spent behind the counter and this initiative will be repeated come June 2. Could a retail trade press editor offer an award to the wholesaler principal who readers vote as the most touchy-feely high-frequency in-shop visitor?

CLUB. Vigilante hears that there are still a few wholesaler members of the old 1990s unofficial Share Watchers Club having a punt on companies and people in the grocery market. One or two are happy at this moment of overall City gloom.

The name was inspired by Weight Watchers - which a few of them needed then and still do.

Morrison's hit the rocks in 2005. But canny folk knew the company would not implode, as "experts" were suggesting. They believed in gritty Sir Ken (who retires at Easter after working at his company since 1952). So they bought as Morrison's shares plunged.

Marc Bolland, new chief executive, listened to Sir Ken and ignored the so-called "advisors". Now he has produced a 35% leap in the share price. Nice one.

flowerS. Marc Bolland may have boosted the share price but he's no friend of ours.

His Christmas drinks pricing was scandalously predatory (three bottles of spirits for £20), contradicting his strategy of "not copying number one (Tesco)". He not only copied, he took price slashing to new depths as our editor pointed out in January.

But there are intelligent bits. His new strategy of encouraging people to feel happy when they walk into his supermarkets by a display of flowers at the enterance is worth noting. Flowers bring uplifting colour to the scene.

Within that "make people happy" philosophy, wholesalers and independents will find its good for business.

John Irish, driving some then reluctant Spar retailers into the convenience market in the 1980s, told them to stock flowers. Jaws dropped.

BOOKSHOPS. What is it about small independent bookshops that owner-managed shops in the grocery market should copy to beat the giants?

Waitrose naturally won the top place in the league for customer satisfaction voted for by consumers and run by Which? magazine.

John Lewis naturally was second. But independent DVD and bookshops were only one point behind John Lewis in the survey, well ahead of Waterstone's (and Marks & Spencer as it happens).

But local grocery shops did not feature. They don't give no satisfaction according to Which?

SUPPORTER. It's to be hoped that someone is keeping a file of all the media commentators - who inform public opinion - who support independent shops. The latest is Simon Hoggart, who is big in The Guardian.

"We have suddenly moved from takeover by Tesco to having a range of real shops in our neighbourhood - a real butcher and a real cheesemonger so far. People say how wonderful it is to have real choice again," he writes, adding that folk adore engaging in local gossip in the shops.

Simon nominates Guut de Poubelle made from ewes milk produced by Cheeses Joy of Man's Desiring as a product in the small shop never seen in Waitrose.

UP-IN-SMOKE. That's where a lot of wholesale turnover has gone following the ban on smoking in public places. This trade will continue to fall away and put wholesalers on their mettle to replace it - or be taken over by bigger wholesalers as we are seeing.

There are dark forces at work seeking to hasten the demise of tobacco market by restrictions on retailers' displays and generally using the emotions aroused by this particular product. There's a big row on the horizon.

Small shops need inspiration and motivation to replace tobacco turnover now going AWOL. FWD invented "community" with its My Shop Is Your Shop launch in 2004 and at moments like this you feel it wasn't a moment too soon. Within the campaign there's much to drive that essential footfall.

IDEAS. The year 2008 could be the year of ideas for wholesalers who recognise that a problem shared is a problem... well shared. And who better to share it with than top manufacturers?

These suppliers have been asked to come up with new avenues to profit using promotional techniques instead of old-fashioned price cuts and discounts.

Which wholesaler has formally challenged suppliers (who were expecting demands for cash) to come up with ideas? Answers on a stamped postcard please.

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