Morrisons to shut 100 convenience stores as supermarket blames Labour's 'policy choices' for rising costs

Morrisons will close 100 loss-making convenience stores that originated from its 2022 rescue of McColl’s. The closures will be phased over coming months, and affected staff will enter consultation. Morrisons says the stores have been challenged for years despite remedial action. The company links worsening performance to significant cost increases tied to government policy choices, making profitability harder to achieve. From 1 April, the National Living Wage rises for workers aged 21 and over, with increases also for ages 18 to 20 and apprentices. Employer National Insurance contributions also increased, lowering the secondary threshold and raising the headline rate. The British Retail Consortium estimates the combined wage and tax impact added about £5bn to wage bills and could lead to up to 160,000 retail job losses over three years.

"Morrisons is preparing to pull down the shutters on 100 loss-making convenience stores in a move that places hundreds of shop-floor jobs in jeopardy, with the Bradford-based grocer pointing the finger squarely at Labour's tax and wage agenda for tipping the sites into terminal decline."

"Britain's fifth-largest supermarket said the shops, all of them legacy outlets from its 2022 rescue of collapsed convenience chain McColl's, had been "challenged for a number of years" despite remedial action. The closures will be phased in over the coming months, with affected staff entering consultation."

"In an unusually pointed statement, a spokesman for the group said the situation had 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". While bosses stopped short of naming specific measures, the timing leaves little room for ambiguity."

"From 1 April, the National Living Wage rose by 50p to £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over, with the 18-to-20 rate climbing 85p to £10.85 and the apprentice rate up 45p to £8. Layered on top is last year's increase in employer National Insurance contributions, which lifted the headline rate from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent and dragged the secondary threshold down from £9,100 to £5,000 - a double whammy that has fallen most heavily on retailers reliant on part-time labour."

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