Primrose Hill, NW1, has all the qualities of a pretty English market town, with independent bookshops, delis, cake shops, Tiffany Rose designer maternity wear, and Richard Dare kitchenware, if you’re running low on Sabatier carving knives or your tagine dish needs replacing. To live close to all those vegetarian restaurants and shops selling wooden toys, a five-bedroom family home in Primrose Hill will cost you £2.7 million. We must assume that house prices have gone up since Friedrich Engels bought a terraced house at 122 Regent’s Park Road. As well as the authors, actors and television stars who live in Primrose Hill, it was also home to the leader of the Labour party in his bachelor days, before he moved with his family to the Dartmouth Park area of the London borough of Camden.
Perhaps Primrose Hill’s high-end enclave of independent shops and restaurants was in the back of Ed Miliband’s mind when he addressed Progress annual conference in May. He said ‘we do want local people to have more of a say about local retail developments because sometimes another local supermarket chain isn’t what people want.’ It was more than a throwaway remark. It spoke to a deep unease in sections of the left about supermarkets. Some socialists have always seemed sniffy about ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ supermarkets, with their discount bangers, booze and bread. Hampstead liberals, only a postcode away from Comrade Miliband, have disdained the Jack Cohens of this world, with their vision of cheap, efficient retailing to working people. In Cambridge, St Albans, Bournville, and Sheringham in Norfolk, Tesco has fought a running planning battle with local councillors and community campaigns. In Gerrards Cross, Tesco applied to build a shop over the railway line, which was vigorously opposed by the agitated upper middle class. The store, now open, is a marvel of engineering: Tesco created a shop literally out of thin air. Its 307-space free car park was full within hours of opening at the end of last year, and Tesco Gerrards Cross has done a brisk trade ever since.
In the Stokes Croft district of Bristol, the new Tesco store caused a riot in April this year, with local hippies and squatters smashing the shop windows and urinating on the shop front. Petrol bombs were recovered from a nearby squat, and 160 police officers in riot gear battled with protesters. The Stokes Croft riot took place just days before Miliband’s speech. Perhaps that too was in his mind.
Why should middle-class socialists be so virulently opposed to Tesco? Surely few Labour members really want a return to the dominance of the independent retailer on the high street, with supercilious staff, overpriced goods and stores closing at lunchtime, Sundays and a half-day on Tuesdays. Tesco and competitors create jobs in depressed areas. Usdaw, the Labour-affiliated shopworkers’ union, has the biggest private sector union agreement in place with Tesco. Usdaw states that Tesco ‘offers some of the best terms and conditions (including pay) for its staff.’
It is not just the workers who benefit when Tesco invests in a neighbourhood. Through rigorous competition, the supermarkets are constantly keeping their prices low and offering cheap deals to their customers. The inconsistency in Miliband’s analysis is that the ‘squeezed middle’ cannot afford to shop in chi-chi delicatessens and organic butchers: they need cheap tins, cans, packets and cartons filled with the kind of food that can be prepared in the gap between the kids’ hometime and the start of the second job or night shift. When Mary Portas turns a shop around, it usually involves reducing the amount of stock, painting everything in Farrow & Ball colours, and putting the prices up.
There will always be a market for such outlets, but by definition they are niche, not mass, markets. When Tesco comes to town, it means cheap food for the masses, available around the clock, and decent, well-paid unionised jobs for local people. To oppose such a thing is not socialism; it is snobbery, pure and simple.
There is a story that when Tesco threatened to close its store on Goodge Street in the Fitzrovia area of London, a local campaign, with the branch Labour party at its head, was launched to save it. This was the point that Tesco realised that its business need not be all out-of-town, and so the Tesco Metro was born. I sincerely want that story to be true, because it shows there are some people in the party with enough common sense to know a good thing when they see it. The Goodge Street store is still open.
If Tesco ever threatened to open its doors in Primrose Hill, I can imagine the middle-class left taking to the barricades to preserve the Richard Curtis-esque high street. But there are plenty of places in Britain where a new Tesco would be cause for street parties, not street riots.
In Defence of Sainsbury’s Local: The people that pay this anonymous Progress staffer’s wages.
What absolute nonsense from planet la la land. There is nothing progressive about destroying town centre small retail outlets, local newsagents, family butchers, fruit and veg shops etc and converging the former employees of these stores into Tesco’s. Think the author needs to get out more and see what a supermarket actually equates to for local retailers, including the bigger names now lost to the likes of Tesco and while they are at it look up competition, the smoke screen of what cheap prices mean and the consequences.
Tesco is massive £1 in every £7 spent their which suggests it’s almost a monopoly. Not healthy for a market based economy. In fact many Conservatives are opposed to Tesco due to its shear size. Their treatment of suppliers is rotten and should be opposed. Sometimes compared to a monopoly bullying and taking advantage of smaller business. The article fails to address whether their prices would be that much cheaper in comparison to an economy with a wider choice of grocery outlets. I’d be fascinated to see the result of academic research on this issue. Would we be better of with more competition in terms of the wealth generated? Tesco should not be measured just on a can of beans or pint of milk. It is certainly not snobbery to wish for an economy with a wider choice of grocery stores and better treatment of suppliers.
I think this is a really good issue to separate the sheep from the goats with. Or to put it another way, between those who are being squeezed enough to be bothered by the cost of a tin of beans and those who aren’t. I have written about this issue myself on this very site: http://www.progressives.org.uk/articles/article.asp?a=8229
What’s with all the ‘defend Tesco’ references? The Labour Party has good reason to keep an arm’s length or two from this Tory benefactor. Remember Dame Shirley Porter and the Westminster Council gerrymandering! She was surcharged £42 MILLION, and it costs the Labour Party seats.
Tesco-watchers should come to Whitchurch in north Shropshire where Tesco is planning to close its town centre store and open a mega store on the edge of town. Local traders are convinced that should this go ahead town centre business will be seriously damaged as consumers, having gone to the new Tesco, will not travel to the local shops. And did I mention that Sainsbury’s already has permission to build a new edge-of town supermarket. Thus a town with a population of a tad short of 9000 people will have two giants fighting over the spoils.
Frankly the article defending the Tesco supermarket culture is total nonsense. For starters Tescos has been guilty of Tax dodging on a massive scale – three bank accounts in Lichenstein . Then Tescos treats the nation’s farmers apallingly ; I should know as my brother had to give up farming because of the low price offered for his potatoes and he is by no means the only person this has happened to . Also our learned defender of Tesco’s should see what a mess our dairy industry is in thanks to Tescos and others.Finally try getting help for local good causes – Tescos are very mean. Your are lucky if you get a Tescos voucher. What I say is bring on the TESCO tax proposed by the SNP and make them charge more for their drink especially beer and cider to bring down teenage binge drinking.
I congratulate the author on managing to shovel so many wittily stereotypical ideas about liberal north Londoners on top of a comment from Ed Miliband that was almost as innocuous as it was banal. If only he actually had started a misconceived war on Tesco, at least it would have the effect of making him vaguely interesting. I’m also delighted to note that Gerrards Cross has apparently become a bastion of middle class socialism. I imagine some of the better-off local residents won’t know which part of that accusation to be more offended by.
This article is rather a blatant crude attempt by a PR company to try and change public opinion I think but here goes I am in two minds about this – on the one hand I can see that Tesco et al bring cheap, good quality food and good service to the people of Britain (rich and poor) and have done lots to improve the welfare of Britain’s poorist families. But on the other hand as others have said when tesco rides into town they quite often destory local shops which in many cases are not able to compete with the Tesco in terms of opening hours and range of products. Often too they are unable to compete with Tesco in terms of price for basic items which form the core of peoples day to day shopping – but in many cases I have found that local shops are actually cheaper for bread/fresh produce etc. But the one stop shop nature of the supermarkets is such that they other ‘specialist’ shops are driven out of business because people simply want to be able to go to one shop and get everything. So what you might say – we live in a free market where weak companies not fulfilling their customers’ needs go to the wall and in an ideal world the small local shops would sharpen their game and deliver a service for which people are prepared to pay. But it is very hard for local shopkeepers to get finance and the scale of the big supermarket chains means they also distort the local property market raising prices to everyone in many cases forcing competitors out of business. They do this by buying up sites and ‘landbanking’ so that local rents are forced up meaning that it becomes more and more diffciult for independents to continue unless they offer a premium ‘Primrose Hill’ type range of goods. The land holdings of Tesco et al also mean that areas remain with poor quality buildings because Tesco have put a stop on developments because they are waiting for the leases to run out so that they can move in knock down/take over the store or they are doing it to prevent competitors taking over the stores. A third point is they destroy diversity on the high street – you have only to look at Lambeth where I live and along the A23 it seems there are branches of Tescos and Sainsburys locals every few hundred metres to see that realistically there isnt much choice. I suspect that in several years time that many of the current local shops will have gone out of business. Should we care? Yes because in most cases the sites will remain derelict for several years / will be converted into housing ahich can be sold off for a quick profit but the amenity value of the site as a local facility has gone. So in conclusion supermarkets are not a bad thing – they need careful regulating so that they dont come to enjoy a monopoly position which can be detriment of everyone in the local community.
There are a number of issues about Tesco’s retailing practices. First the impression that Tesco is cheap(er) I have not noticed this on ‘produce’ for example or ‘meat’. Where there is a local ‘value’ retailer its prices are more competitive. In any case ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ is long gone. Then there is its location policy. Within 500m of me there are four branches of Tesco, versions of its convenience brands. Too much of a good thing? And then there is the interesting situation in LB Trafford about Stretford District Centre/Town Hall, Lancashire Cricket Club, one of Trafford’s High Schools, the White City Shopping Centre and Sainsbury. No pain no gain. Also interesting the processes used over the acquisition of pubs, licensing applications, and their conversion to convenient stores. On merchandising there is a noticeable recent concentration on ”brands’ rather than own brand’s. More recently there has been what seems to be a gradual restriction of the range in the medium size stores (Extras) Of course everyone notices the half price wine. Confusing? So there are developments about prices which vary greatly between units, about planning, about practices in site acquisition, and about product and merchandising policy. I hasten to add I am not suggesting any wrongful actions or drawn any conclusion about Tescos overall strategy. But every little helps. But the issue is whether a retailing mix of stores delivers a reasonable product/price offer to a shopping area. But this is actually no ones business because if you are a make a planning application you will get it, unless there are real blatant contraventions of the planning rules. No Planning Authority these days can risk appeals and I suspect few other local regulatory agencies will chance their arm. Lastly I would note that in China, Tesco is building shopping centres, not superstores. But in this connnection itis interesting that the Co-op intends to offer a ‘market’ of small retailers in its new complex on the edge of Manchester City Centre. .
Oh, dear, whatever has the progressive left come to with nonsense like this. Tesco is a multi-natiional company that wants to make profits. In the UK we can see that this drive has destroyed high streets, communities, and the local environment. I will not even go into the stranglehold that such big companies have on producers. Where is the ideal of socially responsible companies and co-ops etc etc? Shame on you!
No wonder Labour can’t get the time of day in small towns and rural areas if this represents mainstream attitudes in the party. An express on every corner may be the dream of metropolitan elites who can’t get through the day without a latte but tesco’s sharp business practices have comprehensively rural britain.
Where I live the council and developers planned to redevelop the main shopping area. Tesco was holding out for compensation for its old 60s supermarket. The council was thinking in the one or two million pounds – Tesco was think in the region of 10 or 20 million pounds (of council taxpayers’ money). Tesco was so greedy the development was built around them. So there is a brand new shopping centre with a concrete 1960s Tesco sitting in the middle of it. That typifies Tesco. They are out for money. That’s it.
ABSOLUTELY RUBBISH ARTICLE, PROBABLY SPONSORED ARTICLE! WHAT A RIDICULOUS ARTICLE! TESCO IS KILLER OF WHOLE INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES.
Of course the middle-class should support Tesco’s, left-wing or not, as it keeps the hoi-poloi out of Waitrose. Tesco’s have, and always will , play a long game on store provision. They will, happily, hang on to land for years in the hope that a local situation will change so that they can apply for, and get, the required planning approval. What is required to combat them, if you must, is strong local and regional planning policies that will enable the local community to protect valued shops and compensate any losses like increased traffic flow. Negotiation can squeeze all sorts of things out of them such as health centres, police stations, community halls/sports centres and social housing. Just ensure that any approval has been subject to negotiation and covered by the required conditions. After all nobody is forced to shop at Tesco to the detriment of the local retailers etc.
RE Paul “After all nobody is forced to shop at Tesco to the detriment of the local retailers etc.” They are when the locals are forced to closed!
The presence of Tesco is without doubt a double edge sword in my ward in Stoke-on-Trent. On one hand the Tesco Extra store on the edge of our town centre in Longton without doubt dominates the retailing economy. People drive on to the outlet’s car park, they can get anything they want or need in the store, and they leave again often without a thought of perusing what else the town has to offer. It is a magnet for shop-lifters and on a Saturday morning it’s like being at Euston tube at rush hour. On the other hand, constituents tell me that before Tesco’s arrival Longton was withering. The store is by far the largest employer in the area – jobs are the top priority in my city. On a personal level as a resident it is enormously convenient being able to pop out at any time of the day (it is open 24 hours) to grab the odds and sods you find yourself needing. If we are about choice, we have to accept when people choose the likes of Tesco to spend their wages in. I don’t give much credence to the argument that Tesco are trying to eliminate choice with there business model, surely it is up to others to change or die. The Cooperative Group for instance have been enormously successful over recent years after reviewing their business.
As many have stated there is another side to this. I have a house in France that had restrictions on supermarkets and this gave the independent bakers and others a chance. The sites also have wrap round arrangements inside the complex that gives other independent stores a trading base as the main store doesn’t trade on everything. It is not that I oppose supermarkets but they squeeze out the independents except in richer middle areas and in areas with strong ethnic minority provision. It appears that the only way to achieve a balance in the UK is by legislation .
This is sad nonsense, with a nasty undertone of class obsession. The author is utterly ignorant of how supermarkets function and what the real costs of modern retail are – irredemably so, but others might do well to look at this excellent investigation of the supermarket/supplier wars (guess who wins?) gu.com/p/3va2c/tw
When Tesco built their “marvel of engineering” over the railway line in Gerrards Cross, they managed to partially collapse the tunnel causing the closure of that part of the Chiltern line into London, a major commuter route, for months. Still, at least it annoyed the upper-middle classes, so that’s alright then. That’s always the main thing, isn’t it. Jesus…
Tesco is greedy and suffering from corporate arrogance. amongst other things, they withdraw good products and replace them with inferior quality Tesco branded ones. They then claim it is ‘giving customers more choice’ Rubbish.
Good article, breath of fressh air. I am old enough to remember the dreadful pre supermarket days and they were not very good days for the majority of people who found themselves trudging from one quite poorly stocked shop to another. Days when people were reliant on the local corner shop for items they had forgotten during their saturday trudge around the shopping centre, and didn’t the local shops know it!! Just let people vote with their shopping money. That will give an accurate indication of what people want or don’t want without them being told what they want. Bury market and the newly built shopping centre are thriving despite the presence of much appreciated supermarkets.
If Tesco pay their fair whack in taxes, Fine. Until then, No. What do you people think you’re up to?
I too like to shop at Tesco. My story about Tesco is available at Anna Raccoon’s site – http://www.annaraccoon.com/reflections/why-i-shop-at-tesco/
Anything that has the word “profit” attached to it is an enemy of the Left. Never read such ignorance in the posts here.
When community shops are being re-started in rural communities which have lost their local shop, where does the second hand shelving etc come from? Tesco. It is far to easy to bash Tesco but if the Co-op’s customer service/food quality was anywhere near as good as Tesco’s then we would have a real High Street competitor. If I had to bet which of the two will be around in 20 years time my money would be on Tesco, and not the Co-op sadly.
“Petrol bombs were recovered from a nearby squat” – evidence for this?
“Petrol bombs were recovered from a nearby squat” – evidence for this?
I see that you aren’t going to publish any comments in favour of supermarkets. How very “progressive” of you. Stalin would be proud.
I see that you aren’t going to publish any comments in favour of supermarkets. How very “progressive” of you. Stalin would be proud.
this article wasn’t written by a certain boy who went to be Tesco’s head of internal communications after working on Ed Miliband campaign, wassit?
Tescos is cheap and efficient? No and no. Compare it to Lidl or similar Chinese supermarkets, that is cheap and it is efficient. Tesco is.. one of the most fragrant abusers of social engineering within its stores. It generally charges not what the products are worth, it pays its suppliers the minimum in a cutthroat manner, then sells them for far above their real value. I can afford to shop at Waitrose, but I find myself increasing going to Lidl, Aldi, Costcutters and Asian stores because Tescos etc are the land of £30 a kg spices, magazines and other rubbish. Because there I walk in, grab what I need leave. Rather than spend an hour browsing for “bargains” (extortionate price! buy one get one free!). In other considerations, a number of Muslims don’t seem to like the competition with their little stores and the Tesco Jewish/Christian background. Doesn’t bother me but definitely a consideration when a large majority of immigrants are left-leaning.
Gee. People get angry about this. My brother was a farmer but he had to stop being a farmer because Tesco did not offer him enough moey for his carrots. Really? I was a footballer but I had to stop because Chelsea wouldn’t pay me enough to make a decent living. See? Local shops will shut. Why? What if we stop Tesco. Mr Greengrocer may do quite well. He may make enough money to expand and start selling novelty items as demanded by his customers who currently have to go to Todmorden to get them. But that will mean Todmorden Novelty Items may lose trade and shut down, best stop him expanding. In fact let’s put a cap on how many things he can sell. Oh and Mrs Jones grows her own spuds and sells them in her shed on Tuesdays, perhaps we should stoip him selling spuds too. You can’t get there on a Tuesday, it’s your “bring back the typewriter” campaign planning meeting. Well, go without. No, she dosen’t deliver, think of the traffic congestion that would cause!
There’s nothing to defend about Tesco. They have a near monopoly on grocery shopping, are destroying small businesses and town centres across the country, and undermine the viability of British farming by purchasing produce at such low costs. In short, Tesco is unethical and, ultimately, self-interested. I do believe that as a Progressive, whoever wrote this article should be extolling the virtues of mutualism and praising the Co-operative: A high street grocery retailer which has the interests of its members – consumers and workers – at the heart of everything it does. This should be the model for large retailers, not the avarice of companies like Tesco.
Tesco cause ‘economic ethnic cleansing’. they will move into a town and wipe out all the other traders. Town centres then can not survive without the footfall. I would not mind Tesco trading in a town if only they stayed within the average square foot of the other retailers within that Town. To come out with comments ‘Surely few Labour members really want a return to the dominance of the independent retailer on the high street, with supercilious staff, overpriced goods and stores closing at lunchtime, Sundays and a half-day on Tuesdays. Tesco and competitors create jobs in depressed areas’ is quite pathetic. There is no evidence for such a statement. I would rather the Independent trader any day. At least they employ more people per Turnover of goods and pay UK Corporation Tax and Tesco is quite expensive. The Independants often have very good deals (Premier) and are not shut in the afternoons. The real truth of Tesco is that wipe out competition, hammer suppliers and create desolute Town centres.
In regards to the Goodge Street store, this is true. It all happened in 1987.