Tesco now controls over 30% of the grocery market in the UK. In 2010, the supermarket chain announced profits of £3.4bn. Growing evidence indicates that Tesco's success is partly based on trading practices that are having serious consequences for suppliers, farmers and workers worldwide, local shops and the environment. Read our demands

Local Campaigns - there are now over 300 local campaigns against supermarkets listed on this site. View campaigns in your region here.

NEWS ROUND-UP

New competition laws on supermarket planning applications and land disposals come into force       
New laws that apply competition rules to planning decisions for the first time came into force on 17th August 2010. The new rules ban local authorities and private landlords from striking deals with supermarkets to prevent rivals from setting up shop nearby.

Conditions on the sale of land and property by supermarkets which prevent their use by rivals have also beenn outlawed, except where it can proved that local consumers would not suffer. The full Order from the Competition Commission can be viewed here

 New Supermarket Watchdog announced
Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced the creation of a Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA)  in a bid to end the unfair treatment of farmers, suppliers and shoppers. The GCA will sit within the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), but will be independent. It will have the power investigate complaints from UK and overseas suppliers about the way they are treated by supermarkets.
For further information please see an article in the Daily Mail, 3rd August 2010 and BBC. Read the government's announcement here.

Whitby, Yorkshire -Tesco plans refused
On 29th July, Councillors backed the planning officers' recommendations and rejected the Tesco plans, by 11 votes to two. However, they approved the Co-op extension and the Sainsbury's application, subject to 25 conditions. Please see an article in the Northern Echo, 29th July 2010.

Halesworth, Suffolk - Tesco appeal dismissed
A Planning Inspector dismissed an appeal by Tesco and refused permission for a store in Halesworth in July on the grounds that it would be out of scale with the capacity of its catchment area and that it would have a harmful effect on the retail character of the town; that a sequentiually preferable site exists; and that the site is allocated for housing and community development in the development plan. Read the Appeal Decision here. Tesco lodged an appeal against Waveney District Council because it felt it had failed to make a decision on the application months after the application was submitted. For further information please see the campaign case study.

Tesco extension plans on Isle of Man turned down
Plans to extend the Tesco store in Lake Road, Douglas have been shelved by the Manx Council of Ministers. The Council agreed with an independent planning inspector following a public inquiry and rejected the extension on increased traffic grounds. A copy of the letter to parties explaining the Council of Ministers’ decision, a summary of the inspector’s conclusions, and his full report can all be found on the Isle of Man Government website at www.gov.im/cso/ministers.

Tesco shareholders angry about level of executive pay
At its AGM on Friday 2nd July Tesco faced an investor revolt when nearly half of shareholders (47%) voted against its boardroom pay policy or abstained. Almost a third cast their vote against the remuneration report and another 15% withheld their vote. Please see an article in the Guardian, 2nd July 2010. Leading US investor CtW Investment Group wrote an open letter to Tesco shareholders urging them to take a stand on what it describes as "excessive" pay at the AGM. Read the letter here.