Regenerating our communities
In the UK we have opened stores which revitalise disadvantaged areas, working in partnership with local agencies.
REGENERATION IN GORTON, MANCHESTER
Gorton is an area of Manchester that has suffered from the decline of traditional manufacturing. With 12% unemployment, a fragile local economy and high crime rate, the area badly needed a boost. Tesco provided the injection of money, jobs and hope to revitalise the local economy.
We worked with the local regeneration company New East Manchester Limited to develop plans for a Tesco Extra in Gorton to act as a catalyst for further investment. The scheme has provided work for 130 local long-term unemployed people between the ages of 17 and 62, most of whom were not registered jobseekers. Tesco recruited them by distributing thousands of leaflets door to door, as well as working with training and employment agencies.
The vision to create a new district centre – which includes a market hall and new retail units as well as the Tesco store – received planning consent in late 2006 and the store opened in October 2008.
Since 2000, when we opened our first Regeneration Partnership store in Seacroft, Leeds, we have created jobs for the long-term unemployed in 20 stores. In 2008 we opened Regeneration Partnership stores in Aston (Birmingham),Gorton and Cheetham Hill (Manchester), providing almost 900 jobs, nearly 500 of which were for long-term unemployed people.
These areas have often suffered neglect for many years and can appear unattractive commercially. Other retailers may be reluctant to invest there. However, by providing what customers want and by operating our business efficiently, we have been able to develop successful stores in deprived areas, and have helped to attract other businesses to these areas.
In our Regeneration Partnership stores as part of our recruitment process we target local people who have been unemployed for at least six months, including those with low levels of numeracy and literacy skills and people with disabilities. They attend a special life skills programme as well as job training. Unlike most other employment schemes, we guarantee a job to the people we select for Tesco training. People benefiting from the schemes tell us they find this job guarantee particularly motivating.
Following the success of this approach, we were one of the first companies to work with the UK Government in Local Employment Partnerships, designed to provide jobs for the long-term unemployed. We are committed to a Local Employment Partnership wherever we open a store. In 2008, we won a Best Practice Recruitment award for our new store in Aston, Birmingham, where we hired almost two-thirds of the workforce through the Partnership. We also won two North West Local Employment Partnership Awards.
