According to trade magazine The Grocer, the management
consultant - known as The Queen of Shops - aims to help the PM
revive local shopping centres in the wake of the current economic
climate.
And her approach includes asking giant supermarket chains like
Tesco to financially help struggling local community stores.
"What would be so wrong if out of all the millions in profit that
Tesco makes every minute they were to put a percentage back into
developing local community High Streets?:" she told The
Grocer.
"Consumers are starting to expect big businesses to support our
towns as opposed to just driving in. Why would that be so difficult
to do?"
She added: "Of course the basis of any commercial retail business
is to open as many stores and sell as much as you can, but I do
feel the multiples should try and listen to consumers a lot more.
Of course, I don't support people trashing shops in Bristol but it
does show that they feel Tesco is overrunning their town.
'This is not about me being 'anti-big' -- I'm absolutely not.
Tesco has done an awful lot in terms of employment and many other
things to raise the bar but I believe they have reached
saturation.
"If they came to local towns and worked with independents and
helped maintain High Streets, that would be a very powerful
thing."
