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For many of us, our local supermarket has a special place in our hearts. It’s our rock in a storm, a beaming refuge with everything from last-minute suppers to bits ‘n’ bobs for emergency DIY.
But not many of us boast local supermarkets that are so beloved that they’ve got official council protection. One store in central London, however, has recently earned exactly that. A Tesco Express on Dean Street in Soho has just been recognised as an ‘Asset of Community Value’ (ACV) by Westminster City Council.
According to MyLondon, Dean Street’s Tesco Express was threatened last year by developers who wanted to knock it down and replace it with offices and an ‘art bazaar’. That proposal was voted down by councillors, and the supermarket was then nominated to become an ACV by the Soho Society.
So what does being an ACV actually mean? Well, it means that if the owners of the site want to sell it, the local community has a right to bid on the property and buy it for themselves. ACV status lasts for five years.
Tesco Express Dean Street joins five other ACVs in Westminster: the Coach and Horses on Greek Street, Heaven nightclub, Queen’s Park Hall, Prince’s Square Gardens and Curzon Cinema. You can find out more about Westminster’s ACVs on the council website here.
So, long live Dean Street’s Tesco Express! And the supermarket isn’t the only place that has received official protected status recently. Here at Time Out we recently covered all the structures that got ‘listed’ by Historic England in 2023. You can check out the full list of 227 sites here.
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