Supermarket giant Tesco has been hitting the headlines of late after the discovery of a £250m accounting error and continued concern from investors about falling sales and reduced profitability.
Yesterday it was reported that investor Warren Buffet has cut his stake in Tesco to less than three per cent, in response to the retailer's plummeting share price, telling CNBC: "I made a mistake on Tesco. That was a huge mistake by me."
Earlier this month, Tesco ditched plans to build a huge superstore on Margate’s seafront as a result, it said, of shoppers switching from large stores towards neighbourhood outlets and the internet.
The supermarket has also retreated on two other stores in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire and Immingham, Lincolnshire, in a bid to revive sales and attract shareholders.
But a spokesman for the company said the plan to build at Hillingdon Circus, which was given the green light by a Hillingdon Council planning committee in August , is still set to go ahead.
"We have no exact date of when work will start, but we are still proceeding with the development," the spokesman said.
The plan from developer Spenhill for the former Master Brewer site in Freezeland Way, Hillingdon, includes a 3,543sq m Tesco, a six-storey, 70 bedroom hotel and 125 homes.
A rival plan to build a Morrisons supermarket on the opposite side of the road to the Master Brewer site in Long Lane, Hillingdon, was refused in December 2013 .
A Morrisons spokesman has confirmed it is no longer looking to make a move for the site after Tesco secured its planning permission.
The spokesman said: "We were previously looking to bring a new Morrisons to Hillingdon Circus as part of a larger, developer-led scheme which was denied planning consent in December 2013.
"We are no longer involved in this site."
