Morrisons closes four stores, putting hundreds of jobs at risk

Two supermarkets due to shut had been open only five years

Hundreds of supermarket workers are facing redundancy after Morrisons revealed it will close four stores.

Following a fall in sales in the past three months, the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain said the closures were part of a constant review of its portfolio of 494 stores.

The Crawley and Swindon stores are due to shut, each after just five years of operation, affecting about 240 staff.

Other stores earmarked for closure are at Ince in Wigan and Shirley in Solihull.

A spokesperson for the firm said: “We are constantly reviewing opportunities for new stores and the performance of our existing estate. We are planning to invest in four new stores this year and we are regrettably proposing to close four.”

They added: “We will now be going through a consultation process at the stores and will be discussing how to reduce redundancies and, where possible, redeploy our highly valued colleagues within the business.”

Morrisons was the weakest of the big supermarkets for the second month running this month, after a 2.7 per cent fall in sales over the past three months, according to figures from market research firm Kantar.

The company said it would start a consultation process at the stores and look at how to move staff and reduce redundancies.

Along with its big rivals, Morrisons is under pressure from discount chains Aldi and Lidl and the growth of online shopping.

Last month Waitrose announced it was closing seven stores as it focused on expanding home deliveries.