Community impact

We want to have a positive impact in the thousands of communities around the world in which we operate, from Birmingham to Beijing to Budapest.

Our position

We want to play a positive role, to be a good neighbour in line with our customers' expectations. Those expectations vary from place to place, but there are many common issues and impacts wherever we have stores.

They start from when we announce an interest in building a store and continue through the planning process to when the store is built. We need to listen and respond to communities throughout that process. Once a store is open, our aim is to contribute to local communities by providing a great service to customers and quality local jobs that give people the opportunity to get on, by operating responsibly and by supporting community activity.

Critics claim that supermarkets have a negative impact, disrupting traditional shopping patterns and community activity. They suggest that a Tesco store takes trade away from independent retailers, from high streets and town centres, threatening the vibrancy of communities, and that our stores do not reflect the communities in which we operate.

We strive to bring quality, affordable products to our customers and to respond to changes in society so that we can use our position as a force for good in local communities. Our approach is to play a positive role through the operation of our stores, our staff and our community programmes, and to minimise any perceived negative impact.

One way in which we respond to changes in society (such as the expansion of car ownership and the growth in the proportion of working women) is by adjusting the type, size and location of shops. Government planning policies also influence supermarket development. Policy in the UK has shifted from encouraging large out-of-town stores in the 1980s to emphasising the importance of town centres. Economic and social regeneration, and the task of lifting communities out of social decline or deprivation, are priorities in many of the countries in which we operate. We help address these issues by adapting our formats and our offer, meaning that we can bring jobs and investment to areas that other retailers would reject.