Major Lloydasked the Minister of Food whether he can now state the number of retail food shops that have been opened in Scotland by co-operative societies and other firms controlling multiple shops since the outbreak of war; and how many of these are in premises previously occupied by independent traders.
§ Mr. Dolandasked the Minister of Food whether he can now state the number of retail food shops that have been opened in England and Wales by co-operative societies and other firms controlling multiple shops since the outbreak of war; and how many of these are in premises previously occupied by independent traders.
§ Colonel LlewellinYes, Sir. The following table contains the information:
1197W
Estimated changes in the numbers of retail food shops operated by Multiples* and Co-operative Societies. 15th August, 1939–15th May, 1944 — England and Wales. Scotland. Northern Ireland. United Kingdom. TOTAL. Multiples. Co-op Societies. Multiples. Co-op Societies. Multiples. Co-op Societies. Multiples. Co-op Societies. 1. Shops opened (a) Total 762 506 85 178 10 8 857 692 1,549 (b) Number of cases included in (a) in which the business has been purchased from, or opened in premises last occupied by, an independent food retailer … … … 525 380 51 108 5 7 581 495 1,076 2. Shops closed (a) Total 1,171 279 143 87 8 14 1,322 380 1,702 (b) Number of cases included in (a) in which the business has been sold to, or was carried on in premises next occupied by, an independent food retailer … … … 59 4 10 — — — 69 4 73 3. Net Change (a) Total (1 (a) —2 (a)) -409 +227 -58 +91 +2 -6 -465 +312 -153 (b) Net numbers of independent businesses "displaced" (1 (b) —2 (b)) 466 376 41 108 5 7 512 491 1,003 4. Total numbers of shops operated on 15th May, 1944 19,598 12,968 2,865 2,977 167 110 22,630 16,055 38,685 Note. * Multiples are firms with ten or more branches anywhere in the United Kingdom.