Tesco link joy for Grattan

HOME-SHOPPING concern Grattan scored a coup today by signing a joint venture with Tesco for the supermarket's first major thrust into the mail-order market.

Tesco says the deal will lead to 350 new jobs at Grat-tan's headquarters in Bradford. The venture will be marketed under the Tesco Direct brand and will kick off with four lifestyle catalogues.

The supermarkets group hopes the move will bring home shopping to the 10 million members of its Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme. It has been trialling Internet home shopping at 11 stores inside the M25 for two years.

The news came as privately-owned retailer Littlewoods pledged never to acquire more than 10% of the capital of mail-order group Free-mans, a subsidiary of troubled retail company Sears.

The undertaking, made to Consumer Affairs and Competition Minister Kim How-ells, follows Littlewoods' proposed GBP 390 million bid for Freemans in November 1997, which was blocked by then Trade Secretary Margaret Beckett.

Sears has been hoping to float off Freemans although that plan is in doubt in the light of market turmoil and poor trading summer figures.

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