Tesco at Little Lever - I have a theory

Something has been niggling me about this Tesco proposal, particularly from when I saw the plans for the development which were shown to Public in July.

From the fact that they won’t be selling Comparison Goods to the fact that the new store is only 2.83 times the size of the existing one made me think that it was a hell of a lot of money to spend and disruption to be had for what seems to me to be insufficient gain.

I thought that surely Tesco have a bit more savvy than this.

Many people I have spoken to have come up with the same phrase ie – “What’s the point?”

Then the following scenario occurred to me.



1 - Ladson’s the developer or their agent search around for suitable development sites that they can develop and make money out of.

2 - They come across the Pennine Pets site and think “Ideal for a Supermarket”

3 - We could build a Supermarket here and then lease it to a Supermarket Chain – Income from say a 25 year lease minus cost of build etc equals profit.

4 - They knock together a rough plan but before going further they have to gain the interest of a Supermarket Chain who would be willing to occupy it.

5 - Approaches made to Asda, Morrisson’s Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Aldi etc to see if anybody is interested.

6 - Mr Tesco isn’t particularly interested but immediately realises that if one of the others moves onto the site then the existing Metro is well and truly screwed.

7 - By agreeing to lease the development from Ladson’s Tesco ensures that none of its competitors can move onto the site.

8 - Tesco can’t just buy the land and sit on it ‘cos that’s now not allowed.

Whaddya think so far?

If this is Tesco’s main motivation it would explain why the less than convincing commercial prospects for the store are not the main priority.

Trouble is that neither Ladson’s nor Tesco have thought through the costs of sorting the junction out.

I am told that Tesco are in no particular hurry to put in this application – maybe they’re just happy to have prevented anyone else from doing so.

I hope Mr Seddon is prepared to wait quite a long while for his money – unless he’s already done a borrow against it.