Morrisons has announced a new round of closures across its estate, saying it will shut 52 cafes, 17 convenience stores and a range of in-store counters and service points as the British supermarket group tries to cut costs and refocus spending. The move, reported by BBC News, exposes the pressure on a traditional full-line grocer trying to defend market share in an increasingly price-led industry.
The closures are due to be rolled out over the following months. Morrisons said the 17 stores affected would all be Morrisons Daily convenience outlets, while the wider restructuring will also hit 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters, four pharmacies and all 18 of the company’s market kitchens. Those kitchens, positioned as fresh meal areas inside stores, had been part of the retailer’s effort to broaden what it offered shoppers beyond standard supermarket aisles.
The most immediate human effect is on employment. Morrisons told the BBC that most employees affected by the changes were expected to be redeployed elsewhere in the business, but around 365 workers would remain at risk of redundancy. In a company that employs about 95,000 people across roughly 500 supermarkets and 1,600 Morrisons Daily outlets, that is a relatively small share of the total workforce. Even so, the closures illustrate how management sees trimming peripheral or lower-performing operations as necessary to protect the wider business.
Chief executive Rami Baitiéh framed the changes as part of a broader turnaround. He said the group needed to renew and reinvigorate the business while focusing investment on the areas customers value most and that can contribute properly to growth. That language suggests Morrisons is trying to concentrate capital on core grocery operations rather than on extras that may generate footfall but not enough profit.
The logic behind the decision is rooted in a competitive market that has changed sharply over the past few years. Aldi overtook Morrisons as the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain in 2022, a symbolic moment that highlighted the rise of discounters and the pressure they place on legacy chains. BBC reporting noted that Morrisons has been struggling to keep up as rivals sharpen prices and consumers remain sensitive to household budgets. In that context, businesses that once seemed attractive add-ons, such as cafes or specialist counters, can start to look like luxuries.
Analyst Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown told the BBC that Morrisons appeared to be scaling back services seen as desirable but non-essential, freeing up cash so it can compete more aggressively on value. Her assessment captures the broader strategic dilemma facing mainstream supermarkets: whether to preserve a wider service offering that differentiates them, or strip back complexity to defend price and margin.
The decision also fits a wider pattern in UK retail. In January, Sainsbury’s said it would close the remainder of its own cafes, arguing that most shoppers no longer used them regularly. For Morrisons, that parallel suggests the issue is not unique to one chain but reflects changing customer habits. Shoppers may still like the idea of cafes and service counters, but they are not necessarily using them enough to justify the operating costs.
Specific locations will feel the impact unevenly. The BBC said cafes in several London stores would close, along with outlets in Leeds, Portsmouth and Glasgow. Morrisons added that in some places it may bring in third parties to provide more relevant specialist offers instead of running those services directly.
The announcement is therefore about more than a list of closures. It signals that Morrisons believes its recovery depends on simplifying the estate, cutting the parts of the business that no longer carry their weight and redeploying resources toward the price, availability and core shop that customers still prioritize most.
