Our major change programmes, Project Future, Supply Chain and Build for the Future, are bringing new simplicity to our complex operations. The savings these generate enable us to continue investing in our customers, rewarding our people and growing returns for our shareholders.

Project Future is the productivity programme designed to simplify tasks in-store. It makes jobs more enjoyable and frees up more time for our staff to help customers. The impact, in terms of efficiencies gained, has been dramatic. For example, we have stopped doing tasks that were not adding value for customers, and have significantly reduced both physical and electronic mail to stores. Project Future has done its job in the stores, and is moving on to tackle head office and distribution. It has evolved into a continuous programme, known as Project Simple, based on the principle of 'if it's easy to understand, easy to do and makes sense – then we should do it.'

The Supply Chain covers suppliers, buyers, distribution, stores and office support, aiming to give stores what they need to serve customers better. Supply Chain improvements have continued to deliver savings in line with our target of £100m between 1997 and 2000. Last year, we saved £60m to spend on our customers. For example, continuous replenishment systems are now in place and a new scanning system has been installed in every store.

Build for the Future, the programme aimed at saving around £200m over five years from the annual cost of building and maintaining stores, is progressing well. We are working in partnership with suppliers to make construction easier and more cost-effective. One important initiative is to reduce build times by having structural panels factory-made in standard sizes and to assemble them on site, rather than custom-building them on site. It will also reduce future costs by enabling Tesco to buy modules in bulk.