Tesco.com - Competition Commission

Beverley Retail Study

Beverley is a market town situated in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council made the decision to approve a new Tesco store in September 1999 in light of a number of studies about the impact of the proposed development. These initial studies highlighted the following:

• There was a clear quantitative and qualitative need for one additional food superstore in Beverley.

• The new store should be located on the edge of the town centre and facilitate linked trips between the store and the town centre.

• The proposed store would sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of the town centre.

The new Tesco store opened in 2002. An independent retail study looked at the effects of the store on the town centre a year after it opened.

The study concluded that:

• There was a significant increase in the vitality and viability of the town centre between 2000 and 2003 and this reflects to a large extent the influence of the new Tesco store on the health of the town centre.

• The Tesco store has improved availability of food shopping in Beverley, it has improved car parking provision in the town for shoppers and it has reduced the leakage of trade out of Beverley for food shopping.

• The presence of Tesco has not deterred new investment in the town centre, for example a new Marks & Spencer Simply Foods store opened during this time.

• The evidence is that the attraction of Beverley as a place to shop has increased, especially for food shopping, and Tesco appears to have provided the opportunity for linked trips to the town centre. Two-thirds of Tesco shoppers make linked trips.

• The overall vacancy rate in the town centre has decreased in the last 2-3 years. Whilst this is mostly due to general retail trends, it can be partly attributed to the effect of opening the Tesco store on the vitality of those parts of the town centre nearest to the store and the benefits of linked trips.

• There is no evidence 'on the ground' that Tesco has had a negative effect in its first year of trading. On the contrary, it appears to have made a positive contribution to the health of the town centre.

The full report is available from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.