The long saga of Sir Ken Morrison's bid to take over rival supermarket chain Safeway is at last nearing completion, with the news that shareholders are to get offer documents in the New Year outlining the £3bn bid for the company.
If everything goes according to plan for Sir Ken, he will achieve his dream of creating a supermarket chain to challenge the hold on the industry of the "big three" - Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's.
But what is perhaps more important for Bradford is that Sir Ken has reiterated his pledge that the bigger and better Morrisons which will result from his takeover of Safeway will still have its headquarters right here in the heart of the city where he made his name.
Up to 1,000 jobs will be created in the city by the takeover and a new headquarters will be based in Gain Lane, Thornbury, which will house twice as many staff as the existing Morrisons' HQ in Thornton Road.
It might have been tempting for the Morrisons' team to look for another location for the joint company, perhaps taking over the current Safeway headquarters in Hayes, Middlesex.
But it is pleasing to see Sir Ken staying true to his roots and allowing Bradford to share the benefits of this merger which, if all goes according to plan, should be in place by 2005.
Sir Ken based his Morrisons ethos on the community-led markets he grew up with as a child and he's promised to extend this concept to the newly-acquired Safeway stores.
The Morrisons brand is built on strong Bradford principles and this massive business deal should see the city benefit as well as Sir Ken create a supermarket giant to take on the market leaders.
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