an effect on Lidl's logistical operation and pressure on profits. Ronny Gottschlich, who had run Lidl GB for the six years to 2016, was responsible for this approach, which led to friction with head office, due to the cost involved. In September 2016, Gottschlich unexpectedly left and was replaced by the Austrian sales and operations director, German-national Christian Härtnagel. Lidl continued to have ambitious investment plans in the United Kingdom, ultimately doubling the number of stores to 1,500. In the financial year of 2015, Lidl Great Britain's revenue from its over 630 stores throughout Britain was £4.7 billion. Criticism In 2008, Lidl was accused by journalists of spying on their workers, listening to private phone calls, and sometimes even following them home or to doctor's appointments. In one instance, an employee's file was supposedly annotated to note that most of her friends were "drug users". In another instance, a female worker at a Lidl store in the Czech Republic was allegedly forbidden from using the toilet during working hours. An internal company memo from the incident was made public as part of a court case, in which the company is alleged to have advised management "Female workers who have their periods may go to the toilet now and again, but to enjoy this privilege they should wear a visible headband". Some trade union activists have compared this behavior to that of American companies which engage in union busting, drawing the comparison to surveillance techniques used to proactively detect and stop union organizing activity within a place of business. Lidl responded to these claims, stating that the surveillance was intended to prevent shoplifting, and to detect "abnormal behavior". Lidl has also been accused by trade unions in Germany of shutting down stores when workers elect worker councils or opt to engage in collective bargaining with a trade union. In October 2022, animal welfare NGOs across Europe accused Lidl of a ‘chicken scandal’. Investigation footage filmed on a Lidl supplier's farm in Germany showed sick and injured chickens unable to walk and lying in their own waste. In November 2022, another investigation was published showing similar conditions at Lidl supplier farms in Spain. Further investigations in Italy and Austria have also revealed severe chicken welfare issues. In the Austrian investigation footage, birds are seen attempting to eat the rotting carcasses of other dead chickens. The chickens in the footage are fast-growing breeds,