The private equity-owned grocer is being squeezed by discounters Aldi and Lidl on the one hand, and market leader Tesco on the other. It lost £592million on 'continuing operations' – including groceries and food manufacturing – in the year to October, down from £974million in 2023.
Morrisons faces £701m of finance costs as it continues to battle with high debt repayments in the wake of its £10bn takeover by private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). The supermarket's debt pile stood at £7bn at the end of last October, down from £8.6bn a year earlier.
Morrisons Daily retailers are still being hit by ongoing availability issues, despite investment from the multiple on improving service. Several franchisees across the UK told Better Retailing availability issues during the festive period had hampered a major seasonal opportunity.
While many employees will be affected by the move, 365 roles are expected to be permanently axed. Most of the job losses are predicted to be prompted by the convenience store closures. The company said it was seeking to “optimise its operations and to help mitigate recent significant cost increases”.
Morrisons is set to shut more than 50 of its cafes and several Morrisons Daily convenience stores across the UK, resulting in a loss of more than 3,600 jobs in another hit to the British high street. This comes as the retailer announced a return to profit for the first time since its 2021 private equity takeover.
My Shopping Addiction Left Me with £40,000 of Debt
Who is trying to take over Morrisons?
CD&R takeover
In July 2021 a bid to take over Morrisons, led by US private equity firm, Fortress Investment Group and backed by the Canada Pension Plan and Koch Industries, valuing the company at £6.3 billion ($8.7 billion), was made.
The protest was made amid a wider campaign by UK farmers to highlight concerns about the Labour government's “anti-farming” policies, especially plans to introduce farm inheritance tax (IHT) from April 2026.
Average Wm Morrisons Supermarkets hourly pay ranges from approximately £10.89 per hour for Logistics Associate to £25.07 per hour for Sales Assistant. Salary estimated from 1,332 past and present job postings on Indeed. Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to Indeed.
So, everyone here is valued, trusted, treated with respect and enjoys great perks and a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. We care about our colleagues' wellbeing, and we work with a number of organisations to provide information, advice and support to colleagues and their families.
The closures are part of wider cost-cutting measures seen across the supermarket sector with both stores and cafes closing. Morrisons, the supermarket giant, has said it will shut more than 50 of its in-store cafes and several Morrisons Daily convenience stores across the UK.
Morrisons said that while 365 roles will be at risk of redundancy, the significant majority of colleagues affected by the changes are expected to be deployed in suitable roles elsewhere in the company.
Despite a raft of cost-saving measures, Morrisons is not really in a dire financial position, and has even shown signs of growth in recent months. In early 2025, Baitiéh described Morrisons' past year as one of "urgent reinvigoration," reporting that the supermarket had witnessed its strongest quarter since early 2021.
The Morrisons employee rating in London is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail and wholesale industry (3.5 stars).
The CMA is investigating the completed acquisition by Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd of certain assets of McColl's Retail Group Plc, Martin McColl Limited, Clark Retail Limited, Dillons Stores Limited, Smile Stores Limited, Charnwait Management Limited, and Martin Retail Group Limited.
The supermarket attributed these drastic measures to the need to reduce costs amidst escalating financial pressures, having reported pre-tax losses of £919 million in 2023 and £1.3 billion in 2022, reports the Express. In 2023, the company also shuttered over 8,800 stores across its business.
Morrisons does not source any goods from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (including the West Bank). We source produce from the state of Israel and take care to ensure the integrity of origin declarations.
Morrisons is to uninstall some of its self-checkouts as chief executive Rami Baitiéh admitted the technology had gone a “bit too far”. Baitiéh said that the supermarket is actively “reviewing the balance between self-checkouts and manned tills” with the intention to remove some from stores, reported The Telegraph.
The supermarket chain has taken out a High Court injunction following farming protests outside of its distribution depot in Bridgewater Somerset on 10 January. The protests form part of a wider demonstration that has been on-going since November 2024 over the new inheritance tax (IHT) laws.
The private equity-owned grocer is being squeezed by discounters Aldi and Lidl on the one hand, and market leader Tesco on the other. It lost £592million on 'continuing operations' – including groceries and food manufacturing – in the year to October, down from £974million in 2023.
The staff reductions have come through transfer of colleagues in the sale of 337 petrol stations to MFG part way through the year, the closure and restructuring of some manufacturing facilities and some productivity improvements in-store which were largely achieved by natural wastage.
Morrisons' net debt obligations were £3.2bn before the CD&R takeover. The parent company, a legacy of the takeover called Market Topco, reported that net debts at the end of 2023 increased to £8.6bn after the acquisition of the McColl's convenience store chain in late 2022.
In 1942, a small part of Romford Co-op piloted a “semi self-service” format for goods that weren't rationed, with rationed items still sold over the counter. Only the new Manor Park store launched in 1948 operated with a full self-service format, earning it the title of the first supermarket in Britain.
Morrisons said the “proceeds of the sale will fund further investment in the grocery and food making business, as well as significantly strengthening the business's capital structure”. The businesses said they “anticipate the transaction will be a significant creator of jobs”.
