We often hear news about one of the big four supermarkets, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.  I am looking at the legal aspects surrounding the past accumulation of large portfolios of sites bought with a view to building new stores.  What happens when no such stores will ever be built?

The way in which we buy our groceries is changing and the big four are reacting by closing some stores, building fewer large, out-of-town stores and opening more local, convenience stores.

Not that long ago, the big four were busy amassing large portfolios of sites dotted across the country with a view to expanding their respective empires. Even if the land was likely to remain undeveloped for a few years, the land would be unavailable to rivals.  Jump to 2015 and a lot has changed. Tesco has named 43 stores across the country that it intends to close casting doubt on the likelihood of some proposed superstores being built. When announcing the closures, Tesco said it wishes to keep job losses to a minimum however Tesco will need to review contracts of employment to find out where redeployment is an option. In any event, affected employees will need to be fully consulted in advance.

There are likely to be many sites previously acquired by the big four that will never house a superstore.  The big four will no doubt be considering all of the following issues: