Waitrose plans to close seven more stores as it goes through its second run of store reductions this year. This means 700 jobs will be at risk. Three of its supermarkets have already been sold to Lidl as cut price supermarkets are becoming increasingly popular.
The stores closing are:
- Bromley in London
- Oadby in Leicestershire
- Wollaton in Nottinghamshire
- Sandhurst
- Marlow
- Stevenage
- Waterside near Heathrow
The company will now start consultation with the 677 employees who are affected. The employees will have options including potential redeployment within the group.
Mark Gifford, Waitrose’s director of shop trade, said: “We haven’t taken this decision lightly but we have to do what’s right for the business as a whole. Thanks to the hard work of all our partners we’re making good progress and Waitrose & Partners is on track for profit growth this year but, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we haven’t been able to find a way to make these shops profitable in the long term.”
