Tesco advertising books on its lorries

Tesco is bolstering its reputation as a bookseller by advertising a celebrity biography on 30 of its lorries. The promotion in the Northeast of soccer star Paul Gascoigne's biography, Gazza: My Story, is a first for the grocer. Tesco has become a growing force in the books sector, and has scooped impressive sales of bestsellers such as the Harry Potter series. The supermarket group, which holds its AGM today, also announced that it will be giving staff£63 million of free shares, equivalent to 3.6 per cent of their salary. That comes hot on the heels of a£34 million payout made last month, after Tesco's 2001 profit share scheme matured.