Local Independent Businesses Are Good For The Economy

14/09/2010 by info.

About 15 years ago before I started selling businesses I was a consultant for Petrol Stations around the South of England, one of the chains I advised was Esso Petrol Stations.

Around that time Tesco’s started an agreement with Esso to rent some of their larger sites and to re-brand the shop as Tesco’s.

I was telling a client what was happening and he said, that Tesco’s would not be interested in his Petrol Station in Haslemere as there is a Tesco’s a mile down the road. I replied to him that I wouldn’t bank on it because Tesco’s don’t really care whether every shop in the country was Tesco’s.

I was absolutely correct.

Today I tweeted the fact that Tesco’s have 15 outlets in Norwich and received a large number of retweets, clearly this is an issue that strikes a nerve with a lot of people

I am not anti Tesco’s but I do not think that bigger chains like this are good for the economy and I would only wish that customers would support local businesses more.

Some of it is purely selfish as the less independent businesses there are, the less there are for Horizon Business Agents to sell, and it affects the total market size for selling businesses. Having all these larger companies dominate the high street damages the local economy in other ways as well.

Why?

These worried residents in Dorking, Surrey explain some of it on their website.

Perhaps therefore you should be supporting towns such as Sheringham, Norfolk who are opposing planning permission, they know what it will do to the town and local economy.

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