By Morrison’s to close 132 ‘unprofitable’ McColl’s stores
Morrisons is to shut 132 ‘unprofitable’ McColl’s stores, following the takeover earlier this year, with over a thousand jobs at risk.
The move will put 1,300 jobs at risk, months after winning the bidding to purchase the convenience chain.
The UK’s fifth biggest supermarket chain bought the retailer’s 1,164 stores and newsagents after it went into administration earlier this year, and despite the cuts it believed the business had “strong potential”.
McColls was started by Scottish footballer Robert Smyth McColl in 1901 with a single shop in Glasgow.
“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,” said Joseph Sutton, convenience, online and wholesale director at Morrisons
“We have a great deal of work to do but there’s no question that McColl’s is a business with strong potential.”
Morrison’s 190m deal involved the sale of 28 McColl’s stores in areas where the two compete, whilst Morrisons itself was acquired by US private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for£7bn last year.
“I’m confident that the combination of McColl’s conveniently located stores and great colleagues together with Morrisons scale, brand, systems and fresh food expertise will lead to a transformation of the business,” Sutton said.
“I am confident that McColl’s can, in the Morrisons family, once again become a growing, thriving and vibrant convenience business serving local communities across the UK.”
(Image:McColls)
