The biggest issue in high street retailing is the cost of rent and business rates - some rationalisation is required. The idea that firms pay a quarter in advance on leases that have clauses saving reviews will be upwards only is plain inequitable.

The cost of business rates is also out of kilter with the services the local councils are delivering for the cost.

Until a reality hits landlords you will see more casualties - Dreams is hotly tipped to be next?

If Wal Mart were only selling one type of bread I would agree but that is not the case in your local Asda you will be able to get 50 different types of bread from basic to exotic. In Bradford there is 4 Morrisons, 1 Tesco, 1 Asda, 1 Sainsbury, Lidl, Aldi how much more choice do you want? No one forces anyone to shop at these stores, Bradford has a fruit/meat and fish market it also has numerous independent butchers, bakers and fruit and veg retailers many of which you have to drive past to get to the hyper-markets.

One thing is for sure you will get a greater choice of products across all theses three areas in your supermarket than you will in your independent.

You're correct about the issue - what is needed is rent regulation.

If there is nothing other than supermarkets in a town (see 'Tesco Town, 'Tescopoly' and 'trolley town') then there is only the 'choice' that such a company allows. Residents have sod all realistic choice where to shop.

Bradford is a sizeable city. Many smaller places in he UK do not have such choices.

I recently interviewed my local butcher (you can find the result at the address listed below). He's been on the street for 50 years - the last survivor. No raving lefty - and guess what? It was the big expansion of supermarkets that killed off the independents. My street went from eight butchers, three fishmongers, three proper bakers etc to one butcher and one chain baker - and a shed load of dosing Tescos and Sainsbury's, neither of which provide even half-way decent real butchers and fishmongers, with the skills and knowledge those actually involve.

Incidentally, buying strawberries and asparagus in December is utterly bonkers, unsustainable and downright stupid. And people who think it's some sort of success are also stupid.

Councils do not set business rates nor do they get the money from them, that is down to HM Gov, they also set what services businesses get for their rates.

Oh and who has just put up business rates, again?

Bradford, Leeds and a few other places have done well to keep their really very good markets, I would bet that the same products are available in all those big supermarkets and a limited selection in the others, having 7 different places to buy your Warburtons bread isn't really a choice.

It, along with a few notable towns and cities had a decent starting point, Leeds and Bradford both have fantastic markets, what many towns had was "The Master Butcher" the fruit and veg shop where the produce was delivered once a week on a Saturday morning and the chain fresh fish shop, supermarkets were wonderful places compared to them.

Thats not to say that independents can't beat supermarkets on quality and availability if they are allowed to what happens is supermarkets drop prices to get rid of the competition. Spending time in Inverness shows just how much of a grip Tesco have, the have three massive supermarkets, own three more sites and spend millions blocking others moving into the area. That isn't competition, that isn't choice.

But having 50 types of bread in one place is choice!!

Absolutely agree re strawberries in December. Like HMV if you do not adapt to changes market conditions you will die. You cannot blame the supermarkets if the independents cannot supply a compelling model which is sufficiently tempting to attract enough customers to keep them going. Perhaps if the butcher, baker and fruit and veg all got together so you could get all your fresh stuff in one place and the rest at the supermarket? They would need to ensure there was somewhere to park that didn't cost £5/6 every time etc.

Tesco certainly like to offer choice - choice of 'meats' in their "beef" burgers. Indeed, up to 29% horse 'meat' and a bit of pig 'meat' etc, allegedly: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... Tesco.html

Tesco certainly like to offer choice - choice of 'meats' in their "beef" burgers. Indeed, up to 29% horse 'meat' and a bit of pig 'meat' etc, allegedly: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... Tesco.html

Have a real look at what those 50 "types" really are, the same dough in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Many produced by one manufacturer in one plant but packed in several different branded packaging, you are confusing abundance with choice. Much of the good stuff they do sell is produced to a price, dumbed down so it doesn't really taste that much different to anything else and a pale reflection of what it should be, step forward "French" bread...

Leeds Market has been clinging to the cliff face of ruination for several years now due mainly to the council charging more and more for rents in as perfect a demonstration of strangling the golden goose as you'll ever find, its a shadow of what it used to be when I was a kid and would be dragged through it every Saturday on the way to the bus station.

The strange thing about mass production of bread by the likes of Allied Bakers is that they've all but destroyed their own market, my bro-in-law worked at their bakery in Gateshead for a couple of decades until last year when those premises closed and production was moved to Glasgow in an effort to streamline their operations across the whole of northern england and scotland - Glasgow now services the tip of Scotland down to Yorkshire/Lancs with Gateshead being just a distribution warehouse, simply because all of the supermarkets that they used to service couldn't force their prices down anymore and took to "baking" pre-prepared dough instore, for five years before the closure my bro-in-law was seeing each of their supermarket customers closing accounts one at a time and only taking on a few branded breads, the staple breads being "produced" instore.

I was only talking about these issues on the bus yesterday morning. Eveything is back to front in this country. Property costs are too high for business to flourish and business rates, etc are counter-productive as is employers NI. We should try to move to a system where such fixed overheads are reduced dramatically. That would allow strong businesses to make much larger profits and maybe expand abroad and allow currently marginal business to survive or flourish and therefore boost employment. Taxes should be raised only 3 ways:

1. VAT
2. Higher rates of corporation tax (on the higher profits that would be generated)
3. Income tax at much higher rates than now (doing away with NI and the capital taxes).

Basically, move to a system that supports employment, supports profitability and creates an ability to pay taxes.

I recall when corporation tax rates were 52% and ironically everyone seemed to make more money than now. Directors of companies did not mind spending, employing, etc because it only cost them less than half of the bill / salary.

Fromthe same doughs made by the big "bakers" in reality your white sliced and your "farmhouse" loaf come from the same plant, the same basic ingredients and the same end taste albeit one lasts longer that the other.