Amid continuing profit warnings, Tesco has announced it is to cut its £400m capital expenditure and as such will slow down the refurbishment of its stores.

Tesco said their financial performance had been affected by a: “combination of challenging trading conditions and ongoing investment in our customer offer”, going on to details that profits for the six months to 23 August to be £1.1bn, with full-year profits of £2.4bn to £2.5bn, compared with interim and full-year profits of £1.6bn and £3.3bn in 2013.

The bad news for the construction industry is any job creation centred on the store refresh programme will also be slowed down however it's good news is Tesco haven’t said they’re putting the programme on hold. The announcement is however a blow for the UK's supermarket contractors following on from the retail giant's parked plans to build more than 100 new stores last year.

The retailer anticipates it will be able to give the construction industry a further update on new stores and the refresh programme in October. That being said, everything could change again when new chief executive Dave Lewis joins Tesco on 1 September. At a time when