Supermarket giant Morrisons has put hundreds of jobs at risk of redundancy as it announces it will be scrapping a number of cafes and stores.
The company says a ‘wide-ranging review’ identified several areas where the costs of operations are ‘significantly out of line with usage, volumes or the value that customers place on them’.
A ‘number of changes are proposed’ over the next few months which include specifically the closure of 52 Cafés, all 18 Market Kitchens, 17 Convenience stores, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies.
Despite this, the CEO insists that Morrisons and its cafes have a ‘bright future’.
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.
The CEO continues to insist Morrisons has a ‘bright future’ despite the job cuts and store closures (file image)
Rami Baitiéh 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’
‘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.’
Mr Baitiéh, an ex air force colonel, dubbed ‘Mr Fixit’, had been trying to save Morrisons after he took over the business in November 2023.
In March that year, it was reported that the company was hemorrhaging cash, racking up £1.5billion of losses.
Mr Baitiéh then informed staff that the two most important groups in Morrisons are buyers and store managers and more autonomy needs to be granted to them.
The Frenchman, born in Lebanon, began daily unannounced store visits and left his own email address in the complaints section of the supermarket’s website for customers to contact him directly.
He also sought to whip bosses into shape by inviting the top 150 people at the retailer to join him on an hour-long session on Google Chat, the instant messaging platform.
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