Jobs at risk as 132 “loss-making” McColl’s stores to close
Supermarket chain Morrisons has said it plans to close 132 McColl’s convenience stores, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.
Morrisons said the stores set to close were “loss-making” and had “no realistic prospect” of recovering soon.
The grocer purchased McColl’s out of administration in May.
McColl’s currently has 1,164 stores, with 286 operating under the Morrisons Daily brand.
The supermarket chain now plans to convert most of its remaining McColl’s shops into Morrisons Daily convenience stores.
Redundant workers will be offered jobs elsewhere within the company, says Morrisons.
Out of the closing stores, 55 have a Post Office counter. Morrisons said it would delay the closure of these stores until after Christmas “to allow the Post Office additional time to make alternative arrangements.”
After competition regulators cleared Morrisons to buy McColl’s last week, Morrisons chief executive David Potts said the retailer “was now able to begin the urgent journey to transform McColl’s into a viable, well-invested and growing operation”.
He added that there would be more than 1,000 Morrisons Daily stores trading within two years.
Joseph Sutton, director of Morrisons wholesale, 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”.