Morrisons 'to shut around 100 stores across UK' as hundreds of jobs placed at risk
The stores earmarked for closure are reported to be the most struggling Morrisons Daily sites and are understood to be loss-making
Morrisons is planning to close around 100 stores across the UK, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
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Staff at the affected shops were informed of the proposals on Thursday, with the closures expected to take place over the coming months, according to reports.
The supermarket is expected to try to redeploy affected workers to other parts of the business "where possible".
The stores earmarked for closure are reported to be the most struggling Morrisons Daily sites and are understood to be loss-making.
All of them were formerly McColl’s stores, which Morrisons acquired in 2022 before converting them into Morrisons Daily branches.
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The company said all of the stores affected are company-owned, but insisted it remains committed to expanding its wider convenience business through franchises.
The announcement comes despite Morrisons chief executive Rami Baitieh previously setting out plans to open hundreds more Morrisons Daily stores as part of the company’s convenience growth strategy.
The closures are the latest in a series of changes at the supermarket, following the departure of convenience director Matt Heslop in February after less than a year in the role.
Morrisons is also said to be considering selling some company-owned stores to franchise operators, and has restructured its convenience buying team.
In April, the retailer also announced plans to cut headcount at its head office by around 8 per cent.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “Expansion of our Convenience business is a core part of Morrisons growth strategy.“We currently have around 1,700 Convenience stores, opening more than 120 new franchise stores last year, and we have a robust plan in place for further expansion in 2026.
“We continue to see the opportunity to open hundreds more franchise convenience stores in the years ahead.“We have achieved a lot since acquiring the McColl’s stores in 2022, rebranding and repositioning the business as Morrisons Daily, with significant investment in the estate and an ongoing programme of proactive management to optimise the portfolio.
“The performance of all company owned stores across our Convenience business is subject to continuous review.
“This process has identified a number of stores, which were part of the McColl’s acquisition, 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 (NIC and NLW), which have made returning these stores to profitability even more difficult.
“Having completed the review, we are now proposing to take the tough but necessary decision to close a number of these stores over the next few months.
“Regrettably, the proposal means that some of our Convenience store colleagues will now be at risk of redundancy and a consultation will commence shortly.
“We understand this will be difficult news for them and we will be providing these colleagues with all necessary support.
“This will include finding other opportunities for impacted colleagues elsewhere in the business wherever we can, in our supermarket, logistics and manufacturing operations and we have a strong track record of achieving this historically. We will also work hard to mitigate the impact on customers, continuing to serve them through other nearby stores and online.
“The combination of the proposed closure of loss making stores and the continued addition of attractive new franchise openings will enable us to concentrate on those stores which work best for customers, improving the quality of our Convenience estate and making it stronger overall.”