Poole Morrisons convenience store to close

Morrisons has said 365 jobs are at risk of redundancy, including some in Dorset, because of plans to close some of its cafes, convenience stores, florists and fresh food counters.

The supermarket chain said it was costing more to run the services than it was making from customer spending.

The closures will see it shut down 52 cafes, all 18 market kitchens, 17 Morrisons Daily convenience stores, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies.

The closures include the store on Poole's Waterloo Estate.

The majority of staff members affected by the changes, which will be made over the next few months, are expected to be deployed to roles elsewhere in the business, Morrisons said.

But there will be a total of around 365 employees at risk of redundancy.

Rami Baitieh, Morrisons' chief executive, said the changes were a "necessary part of our plans to renew and reinvigorate" the chain and invest in areas that "customers really value".

In most locations, the Morrisons cafe has a "bright future", but a small number have specific local challenges which made closures "the only sensible option", Mr Baitieh said.

The chief executive said it was committed to the Market Street model - which offers fresh meals such as pizza, pies and rotisserie chicken for takeaway in some shops - but that parts of it were "simply uneconomic"

"Although these changes are relatively small in the context of the overall scale of the Morrisons business, we do not take lightly the disruption and uncertainty they will cause to some of our colleagues," he said.

"We will of course take particular care to look after all of them well through the coming changes."

Morrisons is the UK's fifth largest supermarket, according to data supplied by analysts Kantar, and hires around 95,000 staff across the country.

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