Morrisons to close more loss-making convenience stores
L'essentiel
- Morrisons plans to close more loss-making Morrisons Daily convenience stores, acquired through its 2022 McColls deal.
- The company cited "significant cost increases resulting from government policy choices" as an exacerbating factor.
- This follows previous closures and job cut risks at its headquarters.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
Morrisons is closing a number of its "Morrisons Daily" convenience stores, which were acquired through its 2022 purchase of McColls. The company states these stores have been loss-making for some time and their performance has been worsened by increased costs linked to government policies.
The supermarket chain said the affected convenience stores had been loss-making for some time and were acquired through its McColls acquisition in 2022.
It said the difficulties had been exacerbated in more recent years by "significant cost increases resulting from government policy choices", but did not give any further detail.
The planned closures come after Morrisons said last year it was closing 52 cafes and 17 convenience stores, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
It also comes after it revealed last month that about 200 jobs were at risk at its Bradford headquarters.
The supermarket chain said its proposal to take the "tough but necessary decision" to close more Morrisons Daily stores meant more staff would be at risk of redundancy and a consultation would start shortly. It did not say how many jobs were potentially affected.
The chain has around 1,700 Morrisons Daily convenience stores and opened more than 120 franchise stores last year.
It also did not immediately specify which of those stores it was proposing to close, but said they were ones "whose performance has been challenged for a number of years and which are loss making, despite remedial action".
"This situation has been exacerbated in more recent years by significant cost increases resulting from government policy choices, which have made returning these stores to profitability even more difficult," it added.
It said it had a "robust expansion plan" for 2026, and saw the opportunity to open hundreds more franchise stores in the coming years.
Many retailers have argued they have been hit with a wave of extra costs since April last year, including increased employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and higher minimum wages.
In addition, food and drink companies are now charged for the cost to councils of recycling the packaging of some products, under the government's Extended Producer Responsibility (ERP) programme.
Meanwhile, inflation has been above the Bank of England's 2% target for some time. Newly-published inflation figures show the annual rate of food price rises was 3% in April - higher than the overall rate of inflation of 2.8%.
There have been warnings that food inflation in the UK could reach 10% by the end of the year due to the impact of the US-Israel war with Iran.
This week multiple supermarket sources said the government had urged them to voluntarily freeze the price of key groceries, in return for an easing of regulations.
À surveiller
Perspective IA — des possibilités, pas des certitudes
A consultation process regarding potential redundancies will commence shortly.
Très probable · En quelques jours
Morrisons will open hundreds more franchise stores in the coming years.
Probable · En quelques années
Questions ouvertes
- How many jobs are potentially affected by the proposed closures?
- Which specific Morrisons Daily stores are proposed for closure?
- What specific government policies are being referred to as causing cost increases?
- What remedial actions have been taken previously for the challenged stores?
