Map shows 17 Morrisons stores set to close from this month
Supermarket giant Morrisons will begin shutting 17 of its stores next week, in addition to 52 cafes, and 18 Market Kitchens.
Morrisons hopes to "reinvigorate" the company in the shake up, which will see 16 stores close on April 16 with a further store closing on May 14.
The supermarket will close 17 Morrisons Daily branches, which are smaller convenience shops, 11 of which have post offices that are also set to shut.
The chain will also close 52 of its cafes, 18 of its Market Kitchen food courts, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters, and four pharmacies as part of plans announced last month.
Morrisons employs 95,000 people in its supermarkets and a further 1,600 at its Morrison's Daily stores, with the latest announcement putting around 365 jobs at risk of redundancy.
In March this year chief executive Rami Baitiéh said the changes were 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."
'We do not take lightly the disruption and uncertainty they will cause to some of our colleagues,' Baitiéh added.
'We will of course take particular care to look after all of them well through the coming changes.'
Baitiéh has previously blamed the changes announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Autumn Budget as to why the store needed to make changes.
He cited the budget's changes to employers' National Insurance, as well as the rise in minimum wage from April, as reasons for the cost-saving measures, earlier this year.
He said the UK government exacerbated 'an avalanche of costs' for businesses meaning Morrison's had to 'optimise its operations and to help mitigate recent significant cost increases'.
The 17 stores have 11 Post Office counters inside, which are likely to close but perhaps not on the same dates as their respective stores.
The Post Office said: "Morrisons has made the difficult decision to close some Morrisons Daily stores, some of which contain Post Offices. We fully recognise the inconvenience this will cause for our customers and apologise for the short notification as these branches close between April 9 and May 14.
"We have reviewed Post Office provision in these areas and for most of these affected branches we are advertising the vacancies."
Traditional British supermarkets have come under significant pressure from the growth of discounter rivals, such as Aldi and Lidl, with Morrisons now commanding just 8.5 per cent of the market, according to Kantar.
The move follows cuts from its rival grocery chain, Sainsbury's, who announced in January that they will cut 3,000 jobs at its remaining cafés, patisserie and pizza counters.
The chain says the move to close 61 in-store cafes will "simplify the business", adding that most Sainsbury's shoppers "do not use the cafés regularly".
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Bradford Thornbury – West Yorkshire
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