Supporting local economies

We believe that local people should be able to shape the future of their communities.

That is why we are committed to talking and listening to local communities, to ensure our developments meet their needs and expectations. This is a crucial part of being a good developer and, more importantly, a good neighbour.

The majority of our customers are positive about the prospect of getting a new Tesco store in their community. However, we are aware that Tesco is sometimes perceived to have an adverse impact on retail diversity and independent shops.

• We believe that our stores, which are often located at the heart of local communities, can help revitalise a town centre by bringing back customers who might otherwise have shopped out of town. Research by the University of Southampton shows that, where new food stores were built in, or on the edge of, town centres, the proportion of grocery shopping done in the local area rose from 44% to 73% within 12 months. For more information on this research click here
• In Malaysia, Tesco has been appointed as one of the Malaysian government’s consultants on the modernization of small family owned businesses. So far we have helped 118 shops improve their business, growing sales by an average of 28%. We have also developed guidance for potential new store owners. We aim to help transform 200 shops by the end of 2012.
• In South Korea, we responded to concerns about the impact of foreign retailers on small, independent traders by working with the government to create a collective ownership model. Under this scheme, local traders have a stake in Tesco Express stores, so the community itself has a voice in the business.

UK Regeneration Partnerships

Our Regeneration Partnership stores provide much-needed investment and jobs for long-term unemployed people in some of the most deprived urban areas in the UK. When we build a Regeneration Partnership store, we work with local organisations to target local long-term unemployed people. We guarantee a face-to-face interview for everyone who applies. Successful candidates take an eight-week training course to build their confidence and teach them key skills, with a guaranteed job at the end.

In March 2012, we opened our 42nd regeneration store in Widnes. Over the last 12 years, since the opening of the first Tesco regeneration store in Leeds back in January 2000, the stores have provided 14,270 jobs in total, 4,900 of them going to the long-term unemployed in the local area.

You can watch a video about our Widnes Regeneration Store here.