16 January 2008, 16:53 PM
  • It is 60 years since the first Co-operative supermarket was welcomed in Manor Park, East London. But, years on The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is marking the anniversary by calling on shoppers and the Government to support small, independent high street shops which struggle to compete with out-of-town shopping centres and large supermarkets.

The Co-operative supermarket in Manor Park, East London, opened its doors on 12 January, 1948. At the time, the new retail outlets were welcomed as temples of modern convenience, but since then many have become huge multinational companies, often accused of drawing trade away from high streets and with business practices that force out smaller retailers.

Tesco, the UK’s biggest retailer, reported ‘solid’ Christmas sales for the six weeks leading to 5th January. It saw UK sales rise by 3.1% and total international sales soaring by 26.9%. Last year, the FPB dubbed Tesco the ‘King Kong of the Retail jungle’ after it posted a 13% rise in profits to £2.55 billion.

“The supermarkets’ move into the convenience store market, and, more recently, other markets such as clothing, has had a devastating impact on many town centres,” said the FPB’s Phil McCabe. “Many high streets are becoming more like ghost towns than hives of commercial and social activity.”

“The Government’s business watchdogs have had the opportunity to take these companies to task over their bully-boy behaviour, but have so far not done so. Customers can help by voting with their feet and supporting smaller retailers instead.”

Last year the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) fined some of the UK’s big supermarkets after they admitted fixing the price of dairy products. The FPB believes that, compared to their giant collective profits, the £116 million in total fines handed out to Sainsbury’s, Asda and a number of dairies is a mere drop in the ocean. Tesco and Morrisons are also alleged to have fixed the price of milk, cheese and butter but do not accept liability.

Barbara Swarbrick, of The Croft Bakery, Preston, laments the impact that supermarkets have had on smaller businesses. “The supermarkets have such buying power and there is not much I can do about it, especially when they sell a loaf of bread for 30p,” she said. “We just have to keep on going and going, and working more and more.”

She added, “Where I live, there are shops closing down all the time. There is nothing here now; I can’t even get a paper delivered.”

The FPB has urged planning authorities to consider smaller firms before they approve supermarkets’ applications for new stores, and also the impact of large retail developments on their local town centres. There have been some successes. In October, for example, Manchester City Council’s planning committee unanimously rejected a bid to build a Tesco Express in Chorlton, a suburb of the city, after a campaign from a coalition of local independent retailers and residents.