This week, after a five-year legal wrangle, Ocado lost its battle to open a distribution centre next to a primary school in Tufnell Park, North London. The grocer’s plan was to build a 24/7 goods depot on the other side (literally) of the playground fence. The expensive dispute dragged on after three planning rejections and a trip to the High Court. In turn it created huge stress and drained much-needed time from schoolteachers and governors.
I know that because my children were at that primary school for most of this drawn-out battle. For that reason I always kept quiet and felt compromised when this story came up either at work with the Retail Week team, in passing conversation with Ocado, or at home at the school gates.
