News Story Two

Friargate - where a new Tesco Express

will open in January with the potential

to affect local buisnesses on the street

It has been confirmed that the UK’s largest supermarket chain Tesco is behind plans to develop a suite in the Avenham area of Preston. The planned proposal, scheduled to be submitted to Preston’s Planning Committee (PCC) on Monday, would take the number of Tesco stores in Central Lancashire to ten.

The developer Brookhouse Group is still in talks with the chain, but there is confidence that the £80m deal will be passed by the PCC. It would mean that there could be two new stores opening in Preston in two years with the imminent opening of a Tesco Express on Friargate, which is due to be opened in January.

The number of jobs it could lead to is in the hundreds. Councillor Salim Desai, who also has a seat on the PCC, said: “I think with the new store you’re talking a couple of hundred, whereas the Express store you’re talking thirty with part-time jobs, so there will be students working there.”

However, with the increasing number of supermarkets in Central Lancashire there has also been a rise in the levels of opposition to them. Many local traders believe that they lose customers and business with each new opening. In a small survey involving 139 local people, 112 believe that the numbers of supermarkets in Central Lancashire is having too much of a negative effect on small, local traders.

Salim Desai - Planned Tesco site by cworswick

However, Mr Desai believes that supermarkets create healthy competition: “I think there is nothing wrong with healthy competition.”

One major benefit of having a large supermarket near the centre of the city is the increased levels of customers near the high street, which could lead to greater activity and a much-needed boost to the local economy. My Desai added: “I would welcome that. As part of the planning application we’re trying to create an access so that pedestrians can walk into the high street. I think it could give customers more choice.”

Of the UK’s four largest supermarket chains, including Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, there are currently 19 stores across Central Lancashire.

View The four main supermarket chains in the UK - Central Lancashire in a larger map

A map detailing the locations of the UK's four major supermarket chains in Central Lancashire