Tesco's Dominance of UK Grocery Market

According to the pressure group Tescopoly, Tesco now controls 30% of the grocery market in the UK. That is, for every pound spent on groceries in the UK, around 30 pence of that goes to Tesco. In 2006, the supermarket chain announced over £2.2 billion in profits.

Some worry that there is no way to stop Tesco from dominating the UK grocery market and, indeed, it is a highly successful company with the resources and influence to get things done. But not even Tesco is unstoppable in the face of strong local opposition.

In Darlington and Trafford, local people did exactly that - stopped the construction of new Tesco stores - by loudly voicing their opposition to Tesco's plans in THEIR communities.

Now is the time for St. Albans to organise, to start learning about and sharing information about the possible affects of Tesco's plans upon our community, and to let our elected representatives know our feelings. The Daily Telegraph hailed this as the "Battle for St. Albans".

If you'd like to get involved with the website or other aspects of our campaign (everyone has some skills that will be of use!) please send us an email: tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Daily Telegraph: Tesco Prepares for the Battle of St. Albans

Daily Telegraph Article
More photos here.

Saturday's Daily Telegraph contained the articleTesco Prepares for the Battle of St. Albans.

While concerned St. Albans residents have been busy organising a campaign to make local citizens, businesses and market stall holders aware of the possible implications of Tesco's plans, Tesco itself was argueing to the Daily Telegraph that the planning process for such stores should actually be streamlined to make it easier to open new stores. The Telegraph says,

"The Competition Commission, the government's anti-trust watchdog, has been investigating Britain's grocery market for several months for alleged predatory pricing by supermarkets.

Just 48 hours before the meeting in St Albans, the commission revealed that it is now focusing on what happens on a local level.

"We have now gathered a large amount of evidence about the overall picture and can now look in detail at the situation locally. We need to see what choices shoppers have in particular areas," said Peter Freeman, the commission's chairman.

While investors may have shrugged off the news, sending shares in Tesco and J Sainsbury marginally up on the day, the concern for the companies is that the outrage expressed in St Albans' town hall is not an isolated event. Up and down the country consumers have taken to protesting at the relentless expansion drive of Tesco.

What has driven them on to the streets is not just Tesco but the general trend towards giant superstores. Large supermarkets, they say, kill local competition, reduce consumer choice and impact on traditional village life: as the commission's initial findings made clear, the battle is increasingly being fought at a local level in towns like St Albans.

According to people like Dilke, supermarkets are using complex planning laws and land banks — land acquired but not earmarked for any particular development — to block competition.

The planning system is notoriously complex. Getting permission to open a store can take years, requires a raft of complicated tests and involves dealing with a myriad of stakeholders. Retailers argue it is the system, rather than their actions, that creates inquality and delays in opening stores.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, a Tesco board member, says what is needed is less bureaucracy. "We would like to see things move faster, with fewer interventions. We would still have local consultation but there would be fewer tiers and less bureaucracy," she says.

[Full Article on Telegraph.co.uk]

Tesco and St. Albans by the Numbers

Yesterday this website had it's busiest day yet, with 85 visitors viewing a whopping 237 pages of content. Not only did ordinary local residents visit, but so have major national news and media organisations, local and regional newspapers, a few trade organisations, Tesco's development consultancy and Tesco itself.

Please do keep circulating the website address to friends, family and any media contacts you might have - the more people learn about Tesco's plans the better.

As soon as we saw the website stats from yesterday, we realised that numbers are an interesting way to tell the story of Tesco's plans and our campaign to raise awareness of those plans and their possible impacts upon our community:

128,982: residents in St. Albans (source)
55,000: size of proposed store in sq. ft. (Tesco)
15,298: cost in pounds to move (figures based on £280,000 home)
15,000: projected number of customers (Tesco)
1000: age of market that could be threatened by Tesco's plans
895: # of pages viewed on tescocampaign.blogspot.com (as of 10am)
546: customer car parking spaces (Tesco)
500: # of cars in/out of car park at peak time (Tesco)
433.47: pounds raised at Stop Tesco public meeting
385: # of unique visitors to tescocampaign.blogspot.com (as of 10am)
250: approximate # who attended the first "Stop Tesco" public meeting
209: people have downloaded our tescocampaign podcasts
95: # of times our photos on flickr have been viewed
104: # of email addresses we collected at the Stop Tesco public meeting
71: # of 1 and 2 bed modern flats that will be built (Tesco)
55: % of retail space selling food and groceries (Tesco)
49: # of homes, mostly in Victorian properties, that will be demolished (Tesco)
45: % of retail space selling non-food items such as clothing, CDs, etc (Tesco)
22: net gain in number of homes if development is completed (Tesco)
11: houses owned by Tesco on Inkerman Street (Tesco)
10: approx delivery lorries per day (Tesco)
8: % of store taking that will go to shareholders via dividends (Tesco)
7: % of store takings that will be returned to community via staff wages (Tesco)
1: # of years Tesco says it will take to build proposed development (Tesco)
0.8: distance to full size Sainsbury store from proposed site
0.5: distance to existing Tesco, Marks and Spencer food hall and market from proposed store
0: # of leaflets reportedly received by residents adjacent to the site to invite them to exhibition at Town Hall

Please Help Us Fight Tesco - Donations Needed

Evidence from around the country shows that Tesco can be defeated, but to help us ensure that we win in St Albans Stop Tesco needs more money!

We have run the campaign to date on the few hundred pounds that was raised at an initial public meeting and the goodwill of many local residents. With a planning application now looming, we now need to raise £500 or more to produce an effective and professional proposal to submit in opposition to any planning application, to fund public meetings to inform people about the planning process and to produce publicity materials.

To reassure donors, we have formed a limited company, Stop Tesco Limited which will produce public accounts to show how all the money has been spent. If any money is left over once we win the campaign it will be donated to other local community projects.

If you can support us, please send cheques for any amount (£10 would be great!) to Stop Tesco Limited, 33 Alma Road, St Albans, Al1 3AT. Many thanks!

Concerned Resident: The Tesco Plans Must Be Stopped

Here's an email we received earlier today from David Lake who lives on Grimston Road, St. Albans:

I only recently found out about the proposed Tesco development when I received a glossy flyer through my door explaining how Tesco planned to "regenerate" the Evershed site.

This seems like the latest - and by far the worst - proposed Development Disaster to hit St Albans, including plans to knock-down the old London Road cinema, the destruction of the existing Victorian buildings on Lemsford Road and now the prospect of a bland, corporate glass and steel Tesco monolithic monstrosity with all the additional car traffic by day and huge HGVs by night.

We don't need another supermarket in town - we don't need another 1,000 cars clogging up London Road and Alma Road and we definitely don't want to lose one of the best Indian Restaurants in town.

The Tesco plans - must be stopped.

David Lake

Do you have an opinion about Tesco's plans for our community? You can write to your elected representatives or the local press by following the links to the right. Make sure you tell them about this website in your letter. Also, please keep emailing us or simply CC us in on letters you send and/or that you see published: tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

St. Albans Observer Covers Tesco's Unveiling of Plans

St. Albans Observer Covers Tesco's Unveiling of Plans
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

The St. Albans Observer has published an article about Tesco's development plans for the Evershed site in London.

The location of the store Tesco plans to build in St. Albans is more than half a mile from the town centre, yet Tesco continues to insist that this is actually a city centre development.

Tesco spokesman Michael Kissman apparently confirmed this when he told the Observer that "We know that people aren't shopping in the town centre and this proposal is in line with Government policy to bring supermarkets back into town centres."

Since when, many local people are asking, did over half a mile away mean in the "town centre"?

The article also contains quotes from several concerned local residents, including Robert Barton, 54, a structural engineer who lives in Inkerman Road, who asked: "How can there be no change in the traffic when you've got a large car park like that? Tesco have been bragging about their green credentials recently - if they're so green then they should build a supermarket without a car park. It's easily accessible by bus, train and by walking."

You'll find the full article here.

Tesco Plans on Herts Advertiser Website

Tesco Plans in Herts Advertiser
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

If you missed Tesco's exhibit at the Town Hall, and haven't seen the plans, the Herts Advertiser has (here) reproduced an image from the Tesco brochure on their website.

If you haven't seen the image before, you're likely to be a bit surprised by the massive size of the development.

Michael Kissman, Tesco's spokesperson for the development, was caught out at the exhibition when a local person challenged his assertion that the "development has been designed to be in keeping with the local area".

"How," asked the man living on a street of the existing Victorian homes adjacent ot the site, "is a massive grey sheetmetal warehouse with a glass frontage in keeping with locally listed Victorian cottages and townhouses?". Mr. Kissman replied that Tesco's plans are only an initial indication of what might be built on the site and that he wasn't sure what the flats will actually look like cosmetically.

As you'd expect, Tesco's plans don't include any visual indication of the sort of Victorian properties or authentic Victorian street scenes which could be lost if their plans go ahead so our campaign has been busy documenting the area and plotting photos on a map. Have a look here.

What Did They Tell YOU at the Tesco Exhibit?

Residents Visit Tesco Exhibit
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

We've been asking residents and concerned citizens who visited the exhibit of Tesco's St. Albans plans to write and tell us what they found out. Ian, who lives on Orient Close, provided us with an extensive list of information based on his chat with the staff at the exhibition.

On Saturday we voiced concerns here that most local residents were unaware of the exhibition, as were market traders.

This has now been confirmed by a resident of Alexandra Road who said that despite claims from the Tesco spokesperson at the exhibition to the contrary, no leaflet drop was made to homes in the immediate vicinity of the site. Having spoken with three households which will back up to the site, Tesco also failed to leaflet homes on Bedford Road until a copy of the plans was dropped through the door at around 1.30pm on Sunday. (Please note: concerned residents did leaflet Bedford Road, some of Alma Road and some of Inkerman Road early Saturday)

At the exhibition, members of our website team found out that Tesco owns 11 homes on Inkerman road, three of which they plan to demolish. They also plan to build exactly eight car parking places to "alleviate local parking problems". We find it quite convenient that the number of car parking places to be built by Tesco coincides exactly with the number of homes it plans to retain, and likely rent out, on Inkerman Road.

After the exhibit had ended, we found a small group of Inkerman Road residents discussing the plans in front of their homes. One couple say they were told on Friday that half the terrace on the west side of the street was to go to make way for part of the Tesco car park then, the following day, were told that only three houses on the opposite side would be demolished. Perhaps a Tesco spokesperson - we know you've been visiting the site - would like to respond publicly here to questions about which homes exactly will be demolished on Inkerman Road and what the outlook from remaining homes will be.

The highway's expert at the Tesco exhibition confirmed that there would 4-500 vehicle movements per hour in to the store. But, he said, the vast majority of those will not be new traffic. We pointed out that the environmental impact of 4-500 vehicles per hour entering the car park, driving around looking for a spot, parking, being turned off then started up again would be greater than if those cars simply passed through the area. He confirmed that this was true - the environmental impact would be greater, but went on to claim that the footprint of "exhaust plume" would be quite small and would only affect "the immediate area". That's not particularly comforting...

The rest of what we asked confirmed what Tesco's spokespeople had already told others .

Did you find out anything new, or contradictory, to the information already supplied here? Having now seen the plans, do you have any thoughts or feelings about the development you'd like to share?

Please send us an email: tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Letter from Local Resident in the Financial Times

A local resident had his letter to the editor of the Financial Times published in yesterday's (Friday) issue. The letter was in response to the article (24 Jan) St. Albans Unites in Anger Over Tesco Plan for Site.

In his letter published 26 January, James Craigen of St Albans (AL1 1AJ) wrote:

"Sir, While I have no objection to supermarkets in general, and their growing influence on our retail economy, the objectives and apparent tactics of Tesco in St Albans deserve rebuke ("St Albans unites in anger over planned branch", January 24).

In recent years the main supermarkets have expanded their exposure to shoppers. Their success is to be applauded, as a profitable business that creates employment and makes pricing more competitive is surely a net contributor to the economy.

What the residents of St Albans oppose is Tesco's systematic buying of a large spread of land in the centre of the town, leaving it to rot for years (in order to fly to the rescue with a plan to regenerate it), and the lack of town centre road capacity. In addition, properties within the boundary of the planned development also include locally listed cottages and town houses that would be demolished.

Should the supermarket be approved, it would be a huge magnet for yet more traffic when the roads in central St Albans are already gridlocked at the best of times, while the structure of the town means dual carriageways cannot be magically introduced. Just as important, the historic nature of the town would be eroded. This cannot be allowed to happen, as eventually central St Albans will lose its character.

I look forward to seeing how Tesco intends to achieve the impossible when it reveals its plans this weekend."

Have you spotted other coverage (thanks for sending this to us Simon!) of the St. Albans Tesco please let us know - links are greatly appreciated: tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Tesco's Exhibition Was Slick - Shame No One Knew About It

Signs advertising the Tesco exhibition were still inside...
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

We bumped into several people at the exhibition who said they didn't know anything about it until a friend or neighbour had told them. As far as we're aware, there were no advertisements in the paper, just a line at the end of an article about the Competition Commission report saying that Tesco was holding an exhibition.

We may, of course, just have missed some advertising but we did look and local residents certainly weren't leafleted.

Not many people passing through the town centre at the start of today's exhibition, which was open from 10am - 2pm, will have stumbled across it either - in part because for at least the first half hour or so, the sign advertising the exhibition was still inside the town hall, sitting next to the rubbish.

Inside, local residents were treated to a slick presentation of Tesco's plans for our community but, when pressed for details, the well trained public relations staff on hand meaninglessly tossed about phrases like "green development", "in keeping with the existing buildings" and "regeneration".

Local Political Party Protests Tesco Plans

Fruit and Veg Stall in front of Tesco St. Albans Boycott
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

The Green Party organised their own protest in front of the existing city centre Tesco in St. Albans. In the foreground, one of the several a fruit and veg stallholder's at the busy market can be shown filling a bowls for shoppers.

From this and another stall we purchased a bowl of bananas, 1 kg of new potatoes, 1kg baking potatoes, 1 kg of carrots, an onion, broccoli, curly lettuce, courgettes, 3 beetroots and 3 large mushrooms for £6. And the people selling to us recognised us and said hello.

Sadly, the market stall holders we spoke to (3) hadn't heard anything at all about Tesco's plans which could hurt their businesses and put many of them out of business altogether.

Worried about Tesco's Plans? Why Not Just Move?

Some people will ask why those who are concerned by Tesco's plans for St. Albans, in particular those in houses within the immediate vicinity of the store, don't just move. It's a fair question. Aside from the fact that many of us like the community we live in as well as it's location, there's also a serious financial cost involved in moving.

We used a moving cost calculator to see what it would cost for someone selling their home for £280,000 (the price of a 2 bedroom cottage in the area is usually around this amount) in exchange for a home of the same exact price elsewhere. The result? It would cost around £15,300 to move and that's without any mortgage arrangement fees or redecoration included.

Alexandra Road Resident: absolutely 100% against this proposal

We've just had the following email from Sarah, an Alexandra Road Resident:

Alexandra Road, St. Albans

"I have just been reading about the Tesco plans on your campaign website and as a resident of Alexandra Road St Albans, I am absolutely horrified.

I must admit when myself and my husband heard about the prospect of a Tesco just round the corner we thought, how convenient, won't it be great.

Having just read your campaign website I am now absolutely 100% against this proposal. I had no idea the impact this building will have on all the residents surrounding the development."

Please keep sending your thoughts and notes from the exhibition at Town Hall to tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

You might also wish to write a letter to your District and County representatives, St. Albans MP Anne Main or one of the local newspapers. Links are provided on the right side of this page.

Concerned Citizen: "it didn't get my support"

We've been encouraging people who attend the St. Albans Tesco exhibition to take along a list of questions and write down the responses you get from the Tesco representatives.

You can participate in our collective intelligence gathering and reporting process by emailing your own notes to tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Framed 4
Photo Credit:Choconancy1.

A few minutes ago we had our first email from someone who did exactly that - and who got some really revealing information out of the Tesco representatives, including that delivery lorries will have to reverse along the (admittedly widened) access from London road; work could start in two years and last one year; Tesco seems to assume that Ridgemont Road will be unblocked at Station end to allow traffic flow through; and that Tesco.com deliveries will be made from the store.

Here are the notes as we received them:

• 55,000 selling space sq foot store (70k total store area) of which 30k sq foot (55%) will be for food and the rest non food items. There will be no petrol garage.

•  Justified the need (and they referred to this numerous times) for a supermarket based on the council survey identifying a need for another supermarket in St Albans and they do see it as a town centre supermarket development.

•  The site will also include 3 / 4 non food independent shops on the site

•  Not open 24 hours (though would not say never) but did not know opening times, but will include Tesco.com deliveries from the store

•  Parking for 546 customer car park spaces (in a 2 story car park) with 2 hour limit to allow people to shop in the town centre too (I challenged them to do a supermarket shop and then walk to the town, shop and then back in 2 hours!)

•  Customer and delivery entrances on London Road with new traffic lights

•  Cars:15,000 customers per week to the store with 500 cars in/out per hour at peak times (likely to be Friday evening)

•  Of the traffic (per the model of Herts Highways based on 2005 traffic flows): 20/30% of customers are “pass by trips” – would drive there anyway but now stop off on way past to shop (not new traffic); 20/30% would be driving in local vicinity and just transfer onto London Road with equal people being displaced out onto other local roads (not new traffic); 20% no alternative and have to drive up London Road anyway (local residents/shoppers to the area) (not new traffic); 40/20% new trips to the supermarket.

•  But with road widening (filter lane), changing the light phasing in the whole area and the wider plans of Herts Highways for the area there will be no change in the traffic flow from the current position(i.e. it will not apparently cause any more congestion). Interestingly it also looked like they assumed that Ridgemont Road would be unblocked at the station as the model had lots of traffic flowing in/out of this direction (the consultant said he didn’t know anything about this).

•  Delivery lorries anticipated at 8 to 10 per day (though at this stage not known as do not know what size of lorries Herts Highways will let them use on the local roads). Would not comment on the time of day for deliveries

•  All delivery lorries from the M25 up the A1081

•  Delivery area is such that lorries coming off London Road will have to reverse so the reversing beeping noise will be there for each delivery.

•  Would not comment on how many tesco.com delivery lorries there will be

• Locally listed building will be knocked down and replaced with 71 homes each with 1 car park space.

•  Pedestrian access will be from London Road at same place as car access

•  New cycle routes to be added to London and Alma Roads but using the same access to the stores as cars

•  Stressed it was about retaining resident spend in St Albans as survey shows lots of people travel out of St Albans to shop but no interest in where this spend then goes. I pointed out that for the average Tesco store only 7% of store sales goes to the staff (to spend locally) the rest going to suppliers (70%), running costs (15% to nationally agreed contractors) and profit (8% to Tesco shareholders) so little economic benefit to the local area. The reply was we have no interest where the spend goes the council have identified the need to keep more spend in St Albans and this store fulfils this need.

•  No idea on lighting of the area / car park as has not yet been decided

•  Seemed very confident that Herts Highways and council liked the scheme

•  They estimated 2 years before building starts and then over a year of building work

•  Catchment area is the whole of St Albans

•  There are no current plans to extend the store in a few years time but would no rule the possibility out

•  They also kept trying to stress how green Tesco is!

After getting answers to all these questions, how did this local resident turned Citizen Journalist feel?

"In my view sounds like a traffic nightmare and I really don't believe the claims - it didn't get my support"

St. Albans Tesco Exhibition: Some Nasty Surprises Instore?

Last night we caught up with local resident Mike Dilke on his way home from Town Hall where he had attended an invite only presentation of Tesco's plans for St. Albans. You'll find the interview (mp3) as well as a few details from the glossy brochure produced by Tesco here.

We urge you to attend the public exhibition yourself to learn what Tesco is planning to do in our community but be warned, there are some unpleasant surprises there for many people:

* Alma Road: families will be displaced as their locally protected Victorian homes will be bulldozed in favour of "sensitively designed" modern flats

* Inkerman Road: The Tesco representative said three houses would be demolished to make way for the edge of the carpark but the plans in the brochure clearly show all the homes along the eastern side of the street gone and the car park taking their place at approximately the level of the first floor of the remaining properties. Additionally, local residents have noticed that many of the houses on the side of Inkerman Road that, apparently, is not to be demolished are currently sitting empty.

* Bedford Road: Homes at the west end and middle of Bedford Road will have cars coming in and out of an undergound car park a few feet behind the ends of their properties whilst at the other end of Bedford Road will likely look out on a massive, unbroken wall of grey sheetmetal

* London Road: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the homes that have been purchased by Tesco and allowed to become rundown over the past few years will be bulldozed and replaced by a modern block of flats. London Road will be widened at the Alma Road end.

Tesco's Exhibition of what they call "Regeneration Proposals for London Road, St. Albans", is taking place at St. Albans Town Hall, Market Place on Friday 26th from 10.00am-6pm and Saturday 27th from 10.00am–2pm. Please note the limited opening hours on Saturday. [See location on map]

Please take notes of any questions you ask and the answers you receive then, when you get home, email them to us at tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Stumped for a question? You could try asking some of these...

St. Albans Tesco Campaign - Website Stats for Week 1

In it's first week of operation, the St. Albans Tesco campaign website had 275 page impressions ("hits") from 173 unique visitors. That's an average of 25 visitors a day looking at more than 1.5 page each and large number are staying for 5 minutes or even longer.

We've also got content and resources on the photo sharing site flickr, citizen news site NowPublic and yahoo groups and have appeared in the Financial Times and on California based website, Smartmobs.

Word is getting out but please link to us (from the text Tesco St. Albans to help with our Google ranking), join our email list, subscribe to the RSS feed of this site and tell your friends to visit...

Exclusive: Tesco's Plans Revealed at Preview Evening (inc. audio)

Earlier this evening, Tesco held an invite only preview evening to reveal their plans for St. Albans. The tescocampaign website caught up with local resident Mike Dilke as he headed home from the Town Hall meeting to find out what his first impressions of the plan were.

Although we can't reproduce Tesco's plans for St. Albans here, we can tell you that in addition to being viewable at the Town Hall exhibition Friday and part of Saturday, there are plans for a website as well.

We can also tell you that actually seeing the plans confirms much of what many local people have feared:

* the store is very large and has 546 car parking spaces
* it will be open until at least 10pm "for now"
* locally listed Victorian houses on Alma Road, London Road, and perhaps unexpectedly, Inkerman Road will be demolished
* 71 modern flats, which appear to be 6 - 7 stories tall, will take the place of three story Victorian townhouses
* 4-500 additional motor vehicle movements PER HOUR

And be warned - the displays and plans make much of Tesco's plans to "redevelop London Road", an area that, it should be noted, has only become rundown in recent years following the site's acquisition by Tesco.

Here's our interview with Mike Dilke, an engineer and local resident, discussing what he found out at the preview evening: download/play interview (mp3)

Does St. Albans Really Need Another Supermarket?

St. Albans is home, every Wednesday and Saturday, to a one-thousand year old market that includes a number of established fruit and vegetable sellers, a butcher, two fishmongers, two bakeries, a Chinese speciality stall and much more.

The market gives local people a wide range of choice and individual service, not to mention the opportunity to pick up a whole bowl full of bananas for a pound if you wait until the end of the day.

But, of course, not everyone can make it to the market on market days or simply prefer getting all their groceries and related household goods in one shop. With that in mind, we've compiled a list of supermarkets already in St. Albans or a short car journey away.

To give the list a bit more context, we've used google maps to plot the distance by road from St. Andrew's Bookshop to each grocery store. St. Andrew's is located* at approximately the centre of the frontage on London Road, along which Tesco is planning to build their development.

What did we find? A total of 8 grocery stores, not including smaller convenience stores, corner shops or specialist food providers, can be found in the area with just over half of those within walking distance.

One of those, Iceland, is practically on the development site, being just 0.2 miles away. Also within easy walking distance are Marks and Spencer, as well as Tesco itself, have shops 0.5 and 0.6 miles away respectively. Still within walking distance of the site are Sainsbury, just 0.8 miles away and, perhaps slightly less walkable but certainly an easy bus or car journey, is Morrisons 1.3 miles away. Waitrose, Sainsbury and Tesco also all have large stores within easy driving distance and, of course, most of the major grocery retailers now offer online shopping with home delivery as well.

Here's our data:

Iceland, 140/144 Victoria Street, St Albans, AL1 3TG
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 0.2

Marks&Spencer, 21 St Peter's Street, St Albans, AL1 3DP
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 0.5

Tesco, 67a St Peters Street, St Albans AL1 3EB
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 0.6 miles

Sainsbury's , Everard Close, St Albans AL1 2QU
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 0.8 miles

Morrisons (formerly Safeway), 244 Hatfield Road, St Albans AL1 4SU
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 1.3 miles

Waitrose, 1 Ermine Close, St Albans AL3 4JZ
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 1.8 miles

Sainsbury, Barnet Road, London Colney, ST ALBANS AL2 1BG
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 3.1 miles

Tesco Stores, Great North Road Mount Pleasant Oldings Corner, Hatfield AL9 5JY
Distance from proposed Tesco development: 7.4 miles

*The exact address of St. Andrew's Bookshop, from which calculations above were created, is Norman House, 97-99 London Road, St Albans, Herts AL1 1LN

Financial Times: St. Albans Unites in Anger over Tesco Plan

Financial Times: St. Albans Unites in Anger over Tesco Plan
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

Word of our campaign yesterday reached the National press with the Financial Times covering the "backlash" in St. Albans against Tesco's plans.

In the article, St. Albans Unites in Anger Over Tesco Plan for Site" the FT's William MacNamara writes:

"To feel the Tesco backlash, one need look no further than St Albans. When Tesco opened its first store in the Hertfordshire city more than half a century ago, the Evershed printing factory was one of the engines of the local economy.

Today, as the supermarket greases the national economy - the retailer wants to transform the factory site into a new supermarket - it is encountering widespread local opposition..."

The full article is, unfortunately, behind a subscription wall on ft.com

This website has also gained some notice with Smartmobs, a popular website focusing on "DIY media and collective action", covering our online efforts and bringing visitors from around the World to this community based website.

Can you help our campaign, either online or offline? Get in touch.... tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Update: We've found a non-password protected (free) version of the FT.com article. You'll find it here.

Documenting the Community

Documenting the Community
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

We're using digital photos to document the street scene most at risk from the Tesco development, local shops that could be threatened, as well as the market and other central areas that are likely to feel an impact.

To make it easier to see where photos have been taken in respect to the potential development site, city landmarks and the city centre market, we've plotted our photos on a map.

If you've taken photos in the area or would like to get involved in doing so, please email us at the usual address.

People With Media, Journalism, Web and Research Skills Needed

BBC TV Reports on "Tesco Alert" Meeting
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

We're looking to recruit a small group of highly motivated people to help document our campaign online.

Can you write good website copy, have your own blog, or know how to scour the web for resources and links? Are you a photographer or budding (or professional!) video producer? Can you conduct audio or video interviews? Do you have experience using blogger, flickr, youtube or other "social media" websites? Maybe you're a graphic designer, a journalist, or someone with a contact list that includes lots of people who work in the media.

Or maybe you'd just like to learn to do this type of stuff...

It would be great, of course, if you have one of the skills above already but if not we'd still like to hear from you. Get in touch via the usual email address (tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk).

[Quite pressingly, we'd like to have good coverage of Tesco's Public Exhibition this Friday and Saturday - photos, video and audio vox pops of the reaction as people exit Town Hall, text interviews, etc.]

Tesco to Unveil Plans at Public Exhibition: Fri & Sat

"The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt" – Frederick Buechner

Please tell anyone you think could be interested: Later this week, Tesco will finally make public it's plans for our community by holding a public exhibition in the Town Hall, Market Place on Friday 26th from 10.00am-6pm and Saturday 27th from 10.00am–2pm. Please note the limited opening hours on Saturday. [See Map for Location]

Mike Dilke, who organised the first "Tesco Alert" meeting on the 17th has sent an email to everyone who left their email address (sorry - many were hard to read so a large percentage of them bounced back undelivered) requesting that they encourage their family, neighbours, work colleagues and other interested parties to visit, look at the plans, and to ask any questions that come to mind. You might also want to mention the exhibition to any local shopkeepers or market traders you encounter since the plans might affect their businesses.

If at all possible, please take notes when you ask your questions: What specifically did you ask? What was the exact, word for word response you were given? When you get home, please email your notes to us and we'll post them here on the website for all to see.

If you're stuck for a question to ask, here are a few we came up with that you might wish to ask:

• Do you regard this as a city centre development?
• How big will the store be?
• Are you demolishing locally listed houses?
• What hours of opening will the store have? – do you promise not to lengthen these at a later date?
• During what hours, and using what routes, will deliveries be made?
• What changes will be made to local roads to facility the increased movement of lorries and cars in the area?
• How many staff will the store have?
• What buildings will you demolish – street and number?
• Will there be a petrol station in the development?
• How many cars will the car park hold?
• How many flats will there be and who will live in them?
• How often, and by whom, will trolleys and rubbish left in the area adjacent to the Tesco site be removed?
• Will the development include "environmentally friendly" aspects, for example restrictive covenants on car ownership for residents in favour of a car sharing scheme, the use of green energy sources, a decision not to provide disposible carrier bags at the store, etc

Remember, if you take note of the question you asked and response received, please do email it to us here so that we can share it with a wider audience: tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Grocery Probe in the News

The chairman of the Competition Commission's report into the UK's major supermarkets appeared this morning on BBC's Breakfast to explain their findings.



BBC News also asked shoppers what they think of Tesco and the other of the "big four" grocery chains.

Those who were at the first "Tesco Alert" meeting held in St. Albans on the evening of 17 January will have noticed a BBC camera crew covering the meeting and interviewing members of the audience. If you spot the video they recorded on BBC television today or in the future, please let us know: tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk

Competition Commission Reports Findings

Busy Tesco Superstore in Hatfield
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

The Competition Commission has reported the initial findings of their review of the UK's grocery industry.

BBC News Online explains that, "The commission has been examining the supply chain, planning and land banks of the four big UK supermarkets. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons control almost 75% of the UK market. The commission said questions remained whether Tesco or any other supermarket could get into such a strong position that no other retailer could compete."

The BBC's Business Editor Robert Peston said that the findings of the initial review "seem to imply that there is not sufficient competition at the local level."

The BBC article goes on to say that, "The commission said larger stores constrained the prices, product range and service of smaller stores. Below-cost selling by larger grocery retailers" citing the Competition Commission statement which said large grocery retailers "may also unintentionally contribute to the exit of smaller grocery retailers and specialist stores".

The next phase of the Competition Commission's review of the grocery industry will focus on effects of large grocery retails - the big four of which control 75% of the UK grocery market - upon local competition, including that from locally owned and specialist grocers.

The results of the next report are likely to come too late for local shops, businesses and market traders who currently provide local residents with individualised service and a wide choice of goods and providers, but who could be negatively affected if Tesco is allowed to build a superstore on the edge of central St. Albans.

If we believe, as the Competition Commission's initial report seems to imply, that the big four grocery suppliers could inadvertently force smaller grocers and local specialty stores out of business, then we must oppose Tesco's plans now, before they've already built it and it's affects become all to apparent.

St. Albans Tesco Campaign - Mosaic

St. Albans Tesco Campaign - Mosaic
Originally uploaded by tescocampaign.

To illustrate some of what is at stake if Tesco builds a superstore on the "Evershed site" in St. Albans, we've created a photo mosaic showing the street scenes and local businesses currently enjoyed by the community alongside photos from the Tesco superstore in nearby Hatfield.

What place, many local residents and businesses are asking, does a large, anonymous, noisy superstore have in a quiet, mostly residential community full of character and history?

Click the photo to see more photos of the area and the campaign thus far.

If you have photos showing what's at risk please email them to us (please try to keep the size of images reasonable) along with your name if you'd like to be credited with the photos.

[The small print: All photos submitted will be posted on the photosharing website flickr using a creative commons license that allows reuse and derivative works so long as attribution is made and use is non-commercial.]

Competition Commission Probe Into Tesco

Later this week, the Competition Commission (formerly the Monopolies and Mergers Commission) is due to publish its initial findings in their initial investigation of the supermarket sector. They've looked at three key issues, all of which are of relevance to St. Albans residents, businesses and market stall holders include (from the "Issues Statement" found on this page of the Competition Commission website):

"The issues which appear to be most relevant to the decision as to whether any feature (or combination of features) of the market prevents, restricts or distorts competition fall into three broad categories:

(a) whether any aspect of the behaviour of grocery retailers towards their suppliers affects competition in any market;

(b) whether any aspect of the structure of any local market for groceries3, or any aspect of the conduct of grocery retailers or consumers in the market for groceries (or in any other market in which grocery retailers operate) affects competition in one or more local markets for groceries, or in any other product market; and

(c) whether the operation of the planning regime as it affects grocery retailing, or any conduct by grocery retailers, including any aspect of the acquisition, disposal, development or use of land, affects competition in any market."

You'll find more about the inquiry on the Groceries Market Inquiry pages of the Competition Commission website.

St. Albans Media Covers Local Concern Over Tesco Plans

One of the week's most popular stories on the St. Albans Review & Observer website has been Tesco Plan Divides Community, by reporter Alex Hill, who writes:

"THE proposed Tesco store in the blighted London Road area has been slammed by heritage campaigners who warn it would have a far-reaching effect on St Albans...Although some traders in London Road, impatient at the long delays and worried about the impact of empty, boarded-up houses and shops on business, would welcome a supermarket, residents have told the Civic Society they take a very different view. Worries include the loss of locally-listed buildings, loss of architectural identity with 19th Century houses dwarfed by a massive store, reduced trade for local small shops, traffic, noise and light pollution..."

For it's part, Tesco Corporate affairs manager Michael Kissman claims that Tesco has "developed exciting proposals to regenerate the Eversheds site. It will benefit the town bringing new jobs and investment to the area" and invites residents to write to him c/o Tesco House, Delamare Road, Cheshunt EN8 9SL or by emailing michael.kissman@uk.tesco.com

Many local citizens remain skeptical, as does St. Albans Civic Society, whose Chairman Eric Roberts told the Observer: "We believe this project is wrong for our city." The St. Albans Civic Society can be contacted using the details here.

Tesco's Landbank in St. Albans

Below is our illustration showing land that Tesco owns or is thought to own and which we believe will form the site of their proposed development in St. Albans.

The site, over four acres (around 5 football pitches) in size, is currently the site of many mainly Victorian era residential homes, a disused office building with parking that is frequently used for filming, a disused works unit a tire garage, petrol station and a number of small businesses.

The impact of a Tesco development would, of course, be felt most strongly by those living or working within the development site or immediately adjacent to it but the knock on effect of delivery lorries, road and foot traffic, light and noise pollution, litter, etc would be felt much more widely. In fact, the development of a Tesco could threaten local businesses and even the thousand year old market that is one of the features that makes St. Albans unique.

Tesco's "land bank" in St. Albans has already been the issue of a BBC Television report as well as letters in The Independent and the Herts Advertiser, and has also been covered in the St. Albans Observer.

Campaign group Tescopoly has more on the issue of "land banking".

Email Announcment List

We've set up an email announcment list to make it easier to keep in contact, let you know about meetings or planning proposals, etc. We won't use it very often so you won't get an inbox full of stuff from us everyday.

You can join by entering your email address in the box to the right where it says "join yahoo groups" or following this link.

St. Albans residents meet to discuss Tesco plans

Mike Dilke, a St. Albans resident who lives on Alma Road, one of the streets forming the boundary of the "Evershed site", was concerend enough by Tesco's plans that he organised a public meeting to discuss it with other members of the community. Dilke was "astonished" by the large crowd, likely to have numbered around 100 - 150, that packed the hall of a local church.

We've made the audio of Mike's presentation available as an AAC (.m4a file) so that you can listen to it on your computer, iPod or other MP3 player.

If you have problems listening in this format, we've also posted the full .wav format that, although a larger download, is compatible with nearly all computers, operating systems and browsers.

Further coverage, including additional audio and photos,is available by following this link.

Background: St. Albans, Tesco and This Website

Welcome. A large number of St. Albans residents, and others, are concerned about Tesco's plans for a development site in the city.

The site which is known locally as "the Evershed site" is currently home to an old disused book production facility, an empty office building often used for filming, large Victorian town houses and smaller Victorian cottages, a Peugot dealership, petrol station and several small local businesses including a DIY shop, Indian take-away, a business offering educational tuition, and a printer.

The surrounding street scene, which mostly consists of single family Victorian homes and a few hat factories that provided employment for their original occupants, has managed to survive almost entirely intact since the late 1800's.

Local businesses provide just about everything most families would need on a day to day basis. Along with the previously mentioned businesses, there are several pubs, a specialist deli and grocery, Indian and Italian restaurants, a motor garage, a specialist plumbing shop, a dry cleaners and several "corner shops" - the vast majority of which are locally owned and operated by friendly people who know and care about their customers and the area.

In other words, it is a real community, one that is both blessed and cursed by it's location close to St. Albans City Railway Station and London Road which is one of the main road arteries into the city. Clearly, many residents agree, the site does need to be, and almost certainly will, be developed.

The question of how exactly that development is done - by who, when, for what purpose and, perhaps most importantly, with who's goals and ultimate benefit in mind - is important not just for St. Albans residents living adjacent to the Evershed site, but to all local residents and businesses.

Everyone in and around St. Albans will be affected by this development. Because of this, it is important that we have our say in it. This website is just one opportunity for us to do this. A place for us to share information, ideas, feelings and thoughts about Tesco's plans - and OUR plans - for this sensitive, important, centrally located site of OUR city.

If you'd like to become a contributor to this website, please email tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk or you can post a comment on any post you find here.