Summer rains can’t stop Tesco development

The summer of 2012 in Great Britain will be remembered for a host of reasons. There was the sporting success of the country, as well as the Golden Jubilee. However, while the sun finally showed up for the sport, the Queen’s party was somewhat dampened.

It is this onslaught of rain throughout the supposed summer that is likely to be remembered just as much as the glory to which the nation subscribed. However, it did not result in everything being ruined, as the River Thames Pageant showed.

Similarly, many large building projects carried on regardless. This is certainly the case with the £200 million development in West Bromwich. Largely funded by retailer Tesco, bosses of the project have said that work has forged ahead despite the rainfall.

The project is certainly an ambitious one. Comprising 437,000 sq ft, the New Square shopping and leisure centre is due to open in the spring of 2013. The first retail units are already being constructed, as are many of the restaurants and the multiplex cinema.

The biggest building on the site, however, is the 139,000 sq ft Tesco, which is also progressing well. The senior project manager for main contractor Vinci Construction UK, Sean Delaney, said:

“Work to the glazing and cladding of the Tesco store is nearing completion and all the concrete flooring within the store site has now been poured.”

Once complete, it is expected that the site will create somewhere in the region of 2,000 jobs. As one of the hardest-hit areas of the UK throughout the economic downturn, the job creation will come as a huge boost to the West Midlands.