Defending local stores from the giants

FEW can dispute the integral contribution of local groceries and retailers to our rural communities and indeed town centres.

They make up the very essence of our towns and villages, and the principle reason many of us venture to the streets.

However, independent stores have found themselves under increasing strain to maintain lucrative businesses and survive in recent years, due to unfair competition from supermarkets. With supermarket giants selling products at prices lower than independent retailers can buy them from wholesalers, competing with the 'big four' – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons – is not an option for smaller shops.

Added to this, many major supermarkets are now located in anti-social out-of-town sites, threatening to make our once bustling market-town centres somewhat redundant.

Preservation of town centres, urban and rural, is vital to a healthy community, as I highlighted in my recent visit to Maud village, where the regeneration of the former Aberdeen and Northern Marts site is going a long way to rejuvenating the village.

Two reports published this week by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland and the Competition Commission examined the extent of supermarkets' growing monopoly and its consequences.

The reports found that up to 80% of shoppers are now doing the majority of their food shopping in out-of-town supermarkets, and 78% shop less in the town centre, while the number of stores operated by the 'big four' has doubled since 2000. Not only is this monopoly harmful to our communities and town centres, but also affects each of us as consumers.

If local shops continue to lose business in this way and are increasingly forced out of the market we will ultimately be faced with a situation in which we may have to travel several miles to our nearest grocery outlet. It is the vulnerable groups in society with limited mobility and access to transport, such as the elderly, who will suffer the most from this worrying trend.

Monopoly also spells a lack of choice and variety for the customer, as smaller competitors selling diverse produce are squeezed out of the market. The report also raised concerns over the future of dairy farming, with farmers receiving vastly unfair prices for their milk from supermarkets which, as I've previously highlighted, puts their livelihoods under serious danger.

I welcome these reports as a clear sign that awareness of the threat posed by supermarket dominance.

*

SOME harsh home truths came to light last week when the real story of Scotland's back seat position in Europe was finally exposed.

The reports of Scotland's marginalisation were quite incredible – it is hard to fathom that Ministers could be relegated to a listening room while the fate of Scottish policy was being decided within council meetings.

Indeed, the leaked report clearly states: "This is a blow to a number of policy areas, but especially fisheries policy, where the Scottish position is different to that of the rest of the UK."