Meeting Secured With Tesco

The fight to save Kirkcaldy's Tesco store has taken a major step forward.

Gordon Brown has secured a face-to-face meeting with the supermarket's chief executive, Dave Lewis. It will take place at Tesco headquarters in London, on Monday, February 23.

The Kirkcaldy and Cowdebenbeath MP says he plans to present new financial information which he hopes will 'raise the stakes' and persuade Tesco to change their mind.

The store is on course to close its doors in seven weeks time, with 189 jobs are threat.

A huge campaign has been mounted to halt the closure and a mass meeting, involving students from Fife College and local residents, is taking place in the town square on Saturday morning.

Mr Brown said: "Already thousands have signed a written petition set up by Tesco store workers calling on the company to change their mind about deserting Kirkcaldy and threatening to put so many staff out of work."

He added that the meeting was 'the next step' in a continuing dialogue with Tesco to persuade them to change their mind.

Mr Brown has argued that the unique feature of the closure, which makes it doubly unacceptable, is the loss of the main Post Office, whose franchise Tesco has held  for years. It is estimated that 4,000 elderly people use it every week.

He added: "The meeting arises from the series of letters from me and council leader David Ross to Mr Lewis, the managing director, and my phone call with him only a few days ago.

"I have put new financial figures to Tesco suggesting that there is a case for reconsideration. Not just because the post office is central to Kirkcaldy but also because I believe they can adopt a cost-effective plan by staying.

"I have suggested to Mr Lewis that we could negotiate rent from the owner of the site, Threadneedle Street, and that we could make the post office franchise more attractive to the company.

"What really concerns me is that if we create a hole in the high street by losing the biggest superstore in the town then all the other shops in the area will suffer. Council leader David Ross and Kirkcaldy Council have responded swiftly to this by helping to compile new dossier. We must keep Tesco at the heart of Kirkcaldy."