Morrisons closing 17 stores and 52 cafes putting 365 jobs at risk
Morrisons has announced plans to shut down 17 convenience stores, 52 cafes and over a hundred other in-store services.
The supermarket chain also plans to cut 18 market kitchens, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies in the next few months.
The changes put 396 Morrisons employees at risk of redundancy, the company has said.
It stressed a significant majority of their affected colleagues will be deployed elsewhere in the company.
The 17 store closures will all be Morrisons Daily stores, which are smaller stores with extended hours and focused on local convenience.
Morrisons Dailys in Birmingham, Bath and Woking are among those slated for closure.
The supermarket chain employs 95,000 people alongside its 1600 Morrisons Dailys and 500 supermarkets.
In-store cafes will be shut in five London stores, with cafes in Leeds, Portsmouth and Glasgow also affected.
Fifty two of Morrisons’ 397 cafes are on the list of in-store services to be axed.
The four crucial pharmacies to be wound up are those in the Bradford Victoria, Blackburn Railway Road, London Wood Green and Birmingham Small Heath branches.
Full list of 17 Morrisons Dailys to close
Gorleston Lowestoft Road
Shenfield 214 Hutton Road
Peebles 3-5 Old Town
Poole Waterloo Estate
Tonbridge Higham Lane Est
Romsey The Cornmarket
Stewarton Lainshaw Street
Selsdon Featherbed Lane
Haxby Village
Great Barr Queslett R
Whickham Oakfield Road
Worle
Goring-By-Sea Strand Para
Woking Westfield Road
Wokingham 40 Peach Street
Exeter 51 Sidwell Street
Bath Moorland Road
Morrisons said these closures are a reaction to ‘significant cost increases’.
The 174 store, counter and services cut were viewed as the least useful or valuable for customers.
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.
‘Morrisons Cafés are rightly famous for their great quality well-priced food, their place in the local community and their appealing mix of traditional favourites alongside exciting new dishes.
‘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.
Full list of 52 Morrisons cafes to close
Bradford Thornbury – West Yorkshire
Paisley Falside Rd – Renfrewshire, Scotland
London Queensbury – Greater London
Portsmouth – Hampshire
Great Park – Tyne and Wear
Banchory North Deeside Rd – Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Failsworth Poplar Street – Greater Manchester
Blackburn Railway Road – Lancashire
Leeds Swinnow Rd – West Yorkshire
London Wood Green – Greater London
Kirkham Poulton St – Lancashire
Lutterworth Bitteswell Rd – Leicestershire
Stirchley – West Midlands
Leeds Horsforth – West Yorkshire
London Erith – Greater London
Crowborough – East Sussex
Bellshill John St – North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Dumbarton Glasgow Rd – West Dunbartonshire, Scotland
East Kilbride Lindsayfield – South Lanarkshire, Scotland
East Kilbride Stewartfield – South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Glasgow Newlands – Glasgow, Scotland
Largs Irvine Rd – North Ayrshire, Scotland
Troon Academy St – South Ayrshire, Scotland
Wishaw Kirk Rd – North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Newcastle upon Tyne Cowgate – Tyne and Wear
Northampton Kettering Road – Northamptonshire
Bromsgrove Buntsford Ind Pk – Worcestershire
Solihull Warwick Rd – West Midlands
Brecon Free St – Powys, Wales
Caernarfon North Rd – Gwynedd, Wales
Hadleigh – Suffolk
Harrow, Hatch End – Greater London
High Wycombe Temple End – Buckinghamshire
Leighton Buzzard Lake St – Bedfordshire
London Stratford – Greater London
Sidcup Westwood Lane – Greater London
Welwyn Garden City Black Fan Rd – Hertfordshire
Warminster Weymouth St – Wiltshire
Oxted Station Yard – Surrey
Reigate Bell St – Surrey
Borehamwood – Hertfordshire
Weybridge, Monument Hill – Surrey
Bathgate – West Lothian, Scotland
Erskine Bridgewater SC – Renfrewshire, Scotland
Gorleston Blackwell Road – Norfolk
Connah’s Quay – Flintshire, Wales
Mansfield Woodhouse – Nottinghamshire
Elland – West Yorkshire
Gloucester – Metz Way – Gloucestershire
Watford – Ascot Road – Hertfordshire
Littlehampton – Wick – West Sussex
Helensburgh – Argyll and Bute, Scotland
– Morrisons Daily convenience stores
Gorleston Lowestoft Road – Norfolk
Peebles 3-5 Old Town – Scottish Borders, Scotland
Shenfield 214 Hutton Road – Essex
Poole Waterloo Estate – Dorset
Tonbridge Higham Lane Est – Kent
Romsey The Cornmarket – Hampshire
Stewarton Lainshaw Street – East Ayrshire, Scotland
Selsdon Featherbed Lane – Greater London
Haxby Village – North Yorkshire
Great Barr Queslett Rd – West Midlands
Whickham Oakfield Road – Tyne and Wear
Worle – Somerset
Goring-By-Sea Strand Parade – West Sussex
Woking Westfield Road – Surrey
Wokingham 40 Peach Street – Berkshire
Exeter 51 Sidwell Street – Devon
Bath Moorland Road – Somerset
‘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.’
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