.Retail report ‘not fit for purpose’

Friday 27th April 2007, 12:00AM BST.

A REPORT which cost the taxpayer more than £60,000 and concluded that Jersey could cope with a Tesco-sized superstore was ‘not fit for purpose’, a Scrutiny panel has alleged.

The panel say there is no evidence that a superstore is needed or that it would necessarily reduce prices. UK company Experian were paid to look into whether there was demand for more shops in Jersey. They concluded that the Island could sustain a supermarket four and a half times the size of Checkers in St Saviour and that Jersey had too many shoppers and not enough shops. Economic Development used the findings as the basis of their Retail Framework Strategy. But after investigating the Experian report, the Economic Affairs Scrutiny panel, chaired by Deputy Geoff Southern, has concluded that it was fundamentally flawed and should have no bearing on any decision to allow a third supermarket chain into the Island.

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