Major supermarket to close 100 stores

Hundreds of jobs are expected to be at risk.

The supermarket chain blamed government policy choices for rising costs, saying the affected convenience stores had been loss-making for some time and were acquired through its McColl’s acquisition in 2022.

It went on to say the difficulties had been exacerbated in more recent years by "significant cost increases resulting from government policy choices", including increases to the national living wage and National Insurance, per the BBC.

The planned closures come after Morrisons announced last year it was closing 52 cafes as well as 17 convenience stores, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

In addition, the chain revealed last month that approximately 200 jobs were at risk at its Bradford headquarters.

Morrisons said its proposal to take the “tough but necessary decision” to close more Morrisons Daily stores means more staff will be at risk of redundancy, with a consultation set to begin shortly.

Even though the supermarket chain has not yet confirmed exactly how many staff are at risk of redundancy, it is believed that hundreds of jobs will be at risk.

A Morrisons spokesperson said the retailer would try to find other opportunities for the staff affected by the closures.

The chain has around 1,700 Morrisons Daily convenience stores and opened more than 120 franchise outlets last year.

The retailer did not specify which stores it was proposing to close, but said they were ones “whose performance has been challenged for several years and which are loss-making, despite remedial action”. All the affected stores are located across the UK.

"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 added that it had a “robust expansion plan” for 2026, as well as the opportunity to open hundreds more franchise stores in the coming years.

A government spokesperson said it was a commercial decision for Morrisons to close stores, adding: "We understand that this is a concerning time for workers and their families.

"A broad range of support is available for those affected. Acas can also provide employees and employers with free, impartial advice on workplace rights, rules, and best practice."

Morrisons is not the only retailer blaming government policy choices for rising costs, as many others argue 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, the government’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme now requires food and drink companies to cover the cost to councils of recycling certain product packaging.

Simultaneously, inflation has been above the Bank of England's 2% target for some time. Newly published inflation figures also show that the annual rate of food price rises was 3% in April - higher than the overall rate of inflation of 2.8%, per the BBC.

There have also been warnings that food inflation in the UK could reach 10% by the end of the year because of 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.

However, the suggestion did not go over well and was met with a furious response from key figures in the industry.

Justin King, former Sainsbury's boss, said the British supermarket sector was already extremely competitive and that it was "hypocritical" for the Treasury to request supermarkets to cap prices when its policies were contributing to inflation.