§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many food supermarkets are now trading; and what have been the numbers for each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. DeakinsDefining a food supermarket as a self-service grocery shop with selling space of at least 2,000 sq. ft., the estimated number of supermarkets in Great Britain in 1971 was 5,066 and in 1966 was 2,669. These estimates are derived from the censuses of distribution for those years. No official estimates are available for the other years. The estimate for 1971 is provisional and may be revised when the full analysis of selling space and self-service trading from the 1971 census of distribution becomes available next year.