‘If a supermarket is right for my community, it’s right for me’

Stories of communities challenging the latest development from one of the big four supermarkets are a depressingly regular occurrence. 

So when the owner of a Budgens store in Somerset decides not to challenge plans for a rival Sainsbury’s supermarket nearby, it raises interest. But, says Jonathan Tout, owner of Tout’s Budgens in Cheddar Valley, “community comes first”.

Tout, who owns four stores in the local area and bought the Cheddar Valley site 10 years ago, said his business considered taking the matter to court but eventually chose not to interfere with the proposal.

“After we raised concerns, the councillors had a few meetings in which they went through our objections, and members were still happy,” said Tout. 

“We’re more than happy with the outcome. We need to work at what we’re good at and we are confident we can compete. We don’t want to lose business but if it is right for the people of Cheddar, then it is right for us.”