Herald Scotland
Ewan Fergus1 Sep 2010
Supermarket giant Tesco is coming under pressure to redevelop a neglected Renfrewshire town centre, following allegations it had close links to a firm accused of letting the area deteriorate.
The retailer is facing calls from Wendy Alexander, the local Labour MSP, and Derek Mackay, the SNP leader of Renfrewshire Council, to rebuild Linwood – a promise Tesco first made when it bought the town’s crumbling shopping precinct in 2007.
It follows reports Tesco was closely involved with a company accused of running down the town centre before the final sale to the retailer.
The nature of Tesco’s relationship with Edinburgh-based developer Balmore Properties has not been fully explained but it is alleged it was connected to Balmore in 2001, when the developer first bought the land.
Balmore was founded by Glasgow businessman Dallas Rhodes in 2000 and wound up soon after the Linwood sale in 2007.
It has been alleged Balmore let the area fall further into decline to give Tesco a stronger case for taking on the site…
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