UK supermarket Morrisons has proposed a plan to close 35 of its meat counters to mitigate “significant cost increases”.
A review of the company’s operations identified a number of areas where the costs of operations are “significantly out of line” with usage, volumes or the value that customers place on them.
As a result, Morrisons has proposed the closure of 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters, 52 cafes, 18 Market Kitchens and 17 convenience stores. It said it would also close four pharmacies and 13 florists.
There will be a total of around 365 colleagues at risk of redundancy, Morrisons found, but the “significant majority” of colleagues affected by these changes are expected to be deployed in suitable roles elsewhere in the business.
“As we modernise, we are making some necessary changes to the areas of the model which are simply uneconomic.”
Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons
Rami Baitiéh, chief executive of Morrisons, said: “The changes we are announcing today are a necessary part of our plans to renew and reinvigorate Morrisons and enable us to focus our investment into the areas that customers really value and that can play a full part in our growth.
“In most locations, the Morrisons café has a bright future, but a minority have specific local challenges and, in those locations, regrettably, closure and re-allocation of the space is the only sensible option.
“Market Street is a beacon of differentiation for Morrisons and we remain committed to it. But as we modernise, we are making some necessary changes to the areas of the model which are simply uneconomic. In some stores where we are closing counters or cafés, we plan to work with third parties to provide a relevant specialist offer.
“Although these changes are relatively small in the context of the overall scale of the Morrisons business, we do not take lightly the disruption and uncertainty they will cause to some of our colleagues. We will of course take particular care to look after all of them well through the coming changes.”
