{"id":3019,"date":"2012-04-10T18:25:02","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T17:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2012-07-26T08:56:34","modified_gmt":"2012-07-26T07:56:34","slug":"tesco-car-sales-venture-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/tesco-car-sales-venture-crashes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesco car sales venture crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>They have had the embarrassment of the \u2018big price drop\u2019 flop, the worst perfomance of the \u2018big four\u2019 over Christmas, the humiliation of their market share dropping below 30% for the first time since they achieved that milestone, a shock profits warning, their share price plummet almost 20%<\/a><\/strong>, wiping almost \u00a35bn of their valuation, their UK operations CEO sacked, their local management in a spin and a plague of mice which shut their Covent Garden store<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What else could go wrong for Tesco and its investors?\u00a0 Watching the company is for many of them like watching a slow-motion car crash.\u00a0 Talking of which, Tesco’s online second-hand car sales venture has now run out of petrol<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and closed.\u00a0 It is the latest problem to hit the stricken firm since it announced a \u00a330,000 gift to London Gay Pride in November 2011.<\/p>\n

Whether the Gay Pride decision has brought the wrath of God on the supermarket giant, or whether that ill-timed and ill-thought-out decision was simply a manifestation of a general and deep-seated incompetence, depends on one’s point of view.<\/p>\n

The second-hand car business was a joint venture with the established firm Carsite, and began just twelve months ago with much fanfare, hoping to sell thousands of RAC-inspected cars at prices up to 20% below those offered by traditional forecourt dealers.\u00a0\u00a0Even at the halfway stage, although sales weren’t as high as hoped, things were still looking pretty good.<\/p>\n

So what happened?\u00a0 Tesco said the site had come to the end of the road after it \u201ccouldn\u2019t procure a good supply of cars\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, a Tesco\u00a0source said that at the end of 2011, Tesco was only selling 150 vehicles a month, no more than Carsite did on its own.\u00a0 That suggests it was customers who couldn’t be found.<\/p>\n

Last month the firm lost a battle when its plans to open a Tesco Express store in Herne village in Kent united the whole village against their planning application, with a local councillor branding the company ‘totally silly’.<\/p>\n

Local parish councillor Carol Davis said: “Almost immediately the community was right against it.<\/p>\n

“It would have meant the village store would never have survived, and that would be a tragedy.\u00a0 It was in totally wrong position, they are totally silly – why they ever considered it I don’t know.”<\/p>\n

When Tesco launched its \u00a330,000 donation to London Gay Pride, we put up an article with the headline: Prayer will humble proud Tesco<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/strong>We called for a boycott and our members and friends began giving out leaflets at Tesco stores encouraging others to boycott to store in the run-up to Christmas.<\/p>\n

Those prayers, backed up by our actions,\u00a0certainly seem to have been answered in dramatic fashion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tesco and the \u00a330,000 Gay Pride donation; what you can do<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

1 Pray <\/strong>that God will send repentance into the Tesco boardroom, and that they will reverse their grant to gay pride..<\/p>\n

2 <\/strong>In the meantime, Boycott Tesco<\/strong> and encourage others to do the same.<\/p>\n

3 Mount a witness<\/strong> with banners and\/or give leaflets out to shoppers outside Tesco\u2019s high street stores \u2018Tesco Direct\u2019 (they can ask you to leave their car park, but you have every right to witness on the street).\u00a0 Contact us for leaflets on 01994 484544 or email info@christianvoice.org.uk<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(there is a spam arrest filter if you have not emailed us before).\u00a0 The text of the LEAFLET is HERE<\/a>\u00a0 Always go in pairs or a group, not alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 Email\/write<\/strong> to\u00a0the Tesco Group Chief Executive, Philip Clark,\u00a0 philip.clarke@tesco.com<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 You can also write to their new Chairman, Sir Richard Broadbent, at New Tesco House, Delamare Rd, Cheshunt, Herts, EN8 9SL.\u00a0 His email seems to be: richard.broadbent@tesco.com<\/a>. <\/strong>\u00a0Ask them what their policy is regarding freedom of speech and what advice they have given or will be giving to branch managers who have Christians leafleting outside their stores.<\/p>\n

5 Sign our petition \u2018Boycott Tesco\u2019<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

6 If you do not receive our monthly newsletter, Join Christian Voice!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Previous related stories in www.ChristianVoice.org.uk<\/a>:<\/p>\n

TESCO LEAFLET \u2013 the full text<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

28\/03\/2012 Tesco – now it’s mice infestations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

23\/03\/2012 Tesco run to police over leaflets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

07\/03\/2012 Christian \u2018Not Guilty\u2019 in Stonewall email case<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

10\/02\/2012 Taunton Preacher \u2018Not Guilty\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

12\/01\/2012 Shares dive as Tesco sales slump<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

06\/01\/2012 TESCO \u2013 from the horse\u2019s mouth<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

03\/01\/2012 <\/strong>Tesco rattled by Christian Voice campaign<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

20\/12\/2012 Tesco Head is Anti-Christian Bigot<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

18\/11\/2012\u00a0Where it all started:\u00a0Prayer will humble proud Tesco<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What an ex-Tesco Customer wrote<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They have had the embarrassment of the \u2018big price drop\u2019 flop, the worst perfomance of the \u2018big four\u2019 over Christmas, the humiliation of their market share dropping below 30% for the first time since they achieved that milestone, a shock profits warning, their share price plummet almost 20%, wiping almost \u00a35bn of their valuation, their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t