Morrisons to shut 132 McColl’s stores putting hundreds of jobs at risk

Morrisons has said around 1,300 jobs at “loss-making” McColl’s shops could be axed after it bought the convenience store chain in a £190m rescue deal earlier this year.

The supermarket said in a statement on Tuesday it has plans to shut around 132 stores “in an orderly fashion” over the remainder of the year.

It comes after the Competition and Markets Authority last week greenlighted Morrisons’ takeover of McColl’s.

All workers affected by the plans will be “offered alternative employment at a nearby store”, Morrisons said.

It expects some McColl’s stores to return to profitability as part of the turnaround.

Morrisons, bought by US private equity firm CD&R in a deal worth a reported $9.5bn (£7bn) last year, and said McColl’s remained a business with strong “potential” but that there was a “great deal of work to do”.

"I’m confident that the combination of McColl’s conveniently located stores and great colleagues, together with Morrisons scale, brand, systems and fresh food expertise, will lead to a transformation of the business,” Joseph Sutton, Morrisons’ convenience, online and wholesale director, said.

"We very much regret the proposed closure of 132 loss-making stores but it is, very sadly, an important step towards the regeneration of the business.”

He added: "I am confident that McColl’s can, in the Morrisons family, once again become a growing, thriving and vibrant convenience business serving local communities across the UK."

Founded in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Morrisons is the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain, with 497 sites across the country, serviced by more than 18,000 staff.