Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Asda and Waitrose have all confirmed that they have no current plans to branch out into legal services, despite rival retail brand The Co-operative's high-profile move into the market.

The Co-op's legal arm, Co-operative Legal Services (CLS), was among the first to apply for an alternative business structure (ABS) conversion, and it had been widely expected that the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's would follow suit.

Tesco – the source of the much-touted epithet 'Tesco law' – offers a range of financial services via its banking arm, including insurance, loans and credit cards, while Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Asda all run similar operations.

The apparent lack of interest among major retail brands in the first stage of ABS applications will surprise many in the consumer legal market, although expectations remain that the major players will soon make their move.

QualitySolicitors chief operating officer Saleem Arif (pictured) said: "Tesco keeps denying that it is entering the legal market. It is probably true that it is not right now, but I doubt that it will never do it. It just has too many people on its club card scheme not to take advantage of that customer reach. The legal sector will change beyond recognition in the next five years."

Riverview Law chief executive Karl Chapman commented: "I have no doubt you will see the entry of a number of other large players into the consumer and small-to-medium enterprise markets – it is only a question of time."

Co-op first moved into law in 2006 with the launch of CLS, which now offers legal services including personal injury, will writing and employment, and has grown from just three staff members to around 400. Shortly after its ABS application the company announced plans to recruit 150 more staff to ramp up its legal expansion plans.

John Pickering, chief executive of Irwin Mitchell, one of the first major UK law firms to confirm ABS plans, said: "I am not too surprised that the Co-op are the only supermarket brand to consider an ABS. They can probably all achieve their strategic and commercial ends without needing to bear the regulatory and overhead burden of being an ABS. They can utilise white labelling and other mechanisms if they wish to have legal services products."

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has said ABS applicants to date – which currently number around 150 – include traditional law firms of a variety of sizes, as well as insurance companies, accountants and corporates. It is currently working on around 50 second-stage applications with a view to confirming the first licences at the end of this month.

The regulator had previously expected to be able to announce the first ABSs at the end of February but said the delay was a result of the time applicants had taken to return their applications.