News Story Two

Friargate - where a new Tesco Express

will open in January with the potential

to affect local buisnesses on the street

It has been confirmed that the UK’s largest supermarket chain Tesco is behind plans to develop a suite in the Avenham area of Preston. The planned proposal, scheduled to be submitted to Preston’s Planning Committee (PCC) on Monday, would take the number of Tesco stores in Central Lancashire to ten.

The developer Brookhouse Group is still in talks with the chain, but there is confidence that the £80m deal will be passed by the PCC. It would mean that there could be two new stores opening in Preston in two years with the imminent opening of a Tesco Express on Friargate, which is due to be opened in January.

The number of jobs it could lead to is in the hundreds. Councillor Salim Desai, who also has a seat on the PCC, said: “I think with the new store you’re talking a couple of hundred, whereas the Express store you’re talking thirty with part-time jobs, so there will be students working there.”

However, with the increasing number of supermarkets in Central Lancashire there has also been a rise in the levels of opposition to them. Many local traders believe that they lose customers and business with each new opening. In a small survey involving 139 local people, 112 believe that the numbers of supermarkets in Central Lancashire is having too much of a negative effect on small, local traders.

Salim Desai - Planned Tesco site by cworswick

However, Mr Desai believes that supermarkets create healthy competition: “I think there is nothing wrong with healthy competition.”

One major benefit of having a large supermarket near the centre of the city is the increased levels of customers near the high street, which could lead to greater activity and a much-needed boost to the local economy. My Desai added: “I would welcome that. As part of the planning application we’re trying to create an access so that pedestrians can walk into the high street. I think it could give customers more choice.”

Of the UK’s four largest supermarket chains, including Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, there are currently 19 stores across Central Lancashire.

View The four main supermarket chains in the UK - Central Lancashire in a larger map

A map detailing the locations of the UK's four major supermarket chains in Central Lancashire

News Story One

Horse racing legends past and present gathered in huge numbers at Liverpool Cathedral to celebrate the life of trainer Ginger McCain. McCain, who died at the age of 80 in September, will be widely remembered for his training of three-time Grand National winner Red Rum.

Famous faces amongst the hundreds present included trainer Sir Mark Prescott and jockeys Jason Maguire and Graham Lee, whilst fans of racing and of McCain were said to total at least 400. Sir Bobby Charlton also attended.

Tributes were read out by Ladbrokes's Mike Dillon and the former Aintree managing director Charles Barnett for a man who is said to have rescued the Grand National during the 1970s when it was in danger of folding as a race altogether.

Ginger, who real name was Donald, holds the joint record with Fred Rimell for having trained four winners at Aintree, home to the Grand National. He also won it with Amberleigh House in 2004.

 Red Rum stature in Wayfarers Arcade

However, it was with Red Rum, who landed the National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, that Ginger gained legendary status within the horse racing world. In a remarkable partnership between a struggling McCain, who had become a taxi driver in Southport to fund his horse training career, and an injury-prone horse, the two began working on the sandy beaches of Southport.

Sir Peter O’Sullevan, dubbed ‘the voice of racing’, said, “It was because Ginger bought him and because Ginger trained on the sands at Southport that they became such a magic combo. They became a nationally acknowledged partnership.”

Sir Peter O'Sullevan tribute to Ginger McCain by cworswick

Away from Red Rum, Ginger built a reputation on a complete lack of political correctness and famous one-liners, with women on the wrong end of his estimations. O’Sullevan said in a tribute to McCain, “He used to make outrageous remarks. He used to pretend to be a misogynist, but most of his comments were tongue in cheek.”

Perhaps in a twist of fate, Ginger’s son, Donald Jnr, who has built a successful career following in his father’s footsteps as a horse trainer, trained Ballybriggs, the winner of the 2011 Grand National.

However, O’Sullevan believes that Red Rum’s three Grand National wins will never be beaten. “That was an absolutely prodigious achievement. After all, he competed in five Nationals, he won three and was second twice.”