Is This What They Mean By 'Taking Ethics To The Next Level'..?

A legal battle to halt a Tesco superstore being built has been quashed, leaving a rival store with a bill for £10,000.

Ouch! And which store is this?

Tesco was given permission to build in Station Road on the border of Manningree and Lawford last July.

But rival chain the Co-operative Society, which is based in Riverside Avenue East in the town, lodged an application for a judicial review with the High Court, stating the permission was “unlawful” and “irrational”.

Ooooh! Surely not the sainted, oh-so-ethical and right-on Co-op..?

Co-op bosses said legal action would be taken if a list of demands were not met including that the application go back before the planning committee.

Fighting talk! I wonder if they submitted them on company stationery or just clipped letters out of the newspaper and glued them onto a sheet of A4 in the time-honoured tradition of all screen blackmailers?

Ultimately futile, though:

… the council argued the accusations were unfounded and opted not to hold round-table talks with both parties.

A judge has now refused the judicial review application on all of the ten points put forward.

Hah! Take that!

Carlo Guglielmi, Tendring’s planning boss, said: “I am so pleased with the decision. We have maintained all along that the application has gone through the democratic process.

”It is quite pitiful. The Co-op had three years to come up with objections, but waited until the last minute to do this, It was clutching at straws.

“We will be seeking costs. This is public money we are talking about.”

They've already been told to pay costs to Tesco....

The judge ordered the Co-op to pay £10,000 costs for Tesco, and advised Tendring Council to apply to the High Court for its costs.

So, are the Co-op licking their wounds and regretting that they ever tried to strong-arm the council? Reader, they are not:

However, the Co-op has vowed the fight will go on.

Roger Grosvenor, group general manager for trading for the East of England Co-operative Society, said: “While we were disappointed by the initial decision our application seeking leave to appeal was declined, we have instructed our legal advisors to ask for a review of the situation and put forward a renewal application.

“We believe the decision made and the processes used by Tendring Council were flawed and will continue seeking to overturn the decision.”

Let's remind ourselves of the 'values' of the Co-operative Society, shall we?

Like any business, we want to be a commercial success. However, even more important to us is the way that we do business, and the way that we use our profits. We believe that we should offer our customers both value and values. Which makes us a bit different.

Our members are our owners; they tell us what is important to them and we listen and act on it. It’s part of our model: as a consumer co-operative, we run our business for the benefit of our members. That means our members are involved in democratic decision-making...

Well, for a company that prides itself on ethics and democracy, I wonder what your shareholders will have to say about you gleefully flushing all that money down the toilet....