ABS: A game of supermarket sweep?

Published: 09/03/2012

Milk. Bread. Legal services? The likes of Tesco may be partial to having their fingers in many pies but will Joe Public be satisfied receiving legal advice at the end of checkout queue?

The aim of Alternative Business Structures, “affectionately” known as “Tesco Law” is to modernise the legal sector and make the service accessible and convenient for all. Granted in this busy modern world the ability to combine two things on our ever-growing to do-list is always a huge plus. However, having legal services on hand as we pop down the shops may not work so well in practice.

More often than not situations involving the employment of legal services tend to require a level of privacy. From buying a house to going through a divorce or making a Will, there are clear aspects we would not like to be overheard by prying ears, something which Tesco already have experience of.

Last year the supermarket giant was forced to scrap a number of its in-store banking pilot branches with insiders claiming shoppers did not particularly take to the idea of combining their weekly shop with sorting out their finances. It does not require much of a leap to apply this logic to legal services too.

Alternative Business Structures will undoubtedly change the provision of legal services. But after the initial hoopla surrounding its birth, it would appear the threat may not be as fierce as first believed.

Content correct at time of publication