City Paying The Price For Tesco Financial Crisis

Tesco has had its critics over the years: critics of its aggressive expansion, of its impact on the environment, of the toll it has taken on small businesses and local economies.

But many parts of the United Kingdom are dependent on the supermarket's success - bad news for the retailer is bad news for them .

For 14 years, Tesco has owned the derelict but historic Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton.

The abandoned construction site has been a blot on the All Saints area of the city.

But residents have lived with it in the belief that it would one day transform their community.

Tesco had promised a £65m investment: a 13,000-square-foot superstore with cafes, offices and community facilities in adjacent buildings.

It would have created hundreds of jobs in an area where unemployment is double the national average.

But in January, as part of the supermarket's turnaround strategy, 49 developments - including the one in Wolverhampton - were discontinued and the decision was made to close a further 43 stores.

"Everybody built their hopes up that we would get house price rises, get some employment into the area and they just took it away from us," one resident told Sky News.

Sham Sharma from the Wolverhampton Business Forum said: "Probably we lost 500-600 jobs, which is a big shame for the city because we are crying out for jobs. It's a big let-down for us by Tesco.

"We need this site to be redeveloped desperately so we can have a better infrastructure in Wolverhampton, better employment opportunities. The young people in Wolverhampton deserve that."

Deprived communities are paying the highest price for Tesco's slump and that's why, for all its faults, many people will be hoping that the retailer recovers as swiftly as possible.