Sainsbury’s has revealed plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs.
Head office and senior management roles are among those affected, the chain said.
The major overhaul would also see the closure of its remaining 61 in-store cafes, which Sainsbury’s said were no longer used by the majority of customers “regularly”, as well as hot food, patisserie, and pizza counters.
The supermarket said the move was a bid to save money in the face of a “challenging cost environment”.
It had previously warned of consequences ahead due to a massive leap in costs from budget tax measures which will hit in a matter of weeks.
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Cafes are due to shut at the following locations:
Fosse Park, Leicestershire
Pontypridd, South Wales
Rustington, West Sussex
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Penzance, Cornwall
Denton, Greater Manchester
Wrexham, North Wales
Longwater, Norwich, Norfolk
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Pontllanfraith, South Wales
Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire
Nantwich, Cheshire
Pinhoe Road, Exeter, Devon
Pepper Hill – Northfleet, Kent
Marshall Lake, Solihull, West Midlands
Rhyl, North Wales
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Bridgemead, Swindon, Wiltshire
Larkfield, Aylesford, Kent
Whitchurch Bargates, Shropshire
Sedlescombe Road, Hastings, East Sussex
Barnstaple, Devon
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Kings Lynn Hardwick, Norfolk
Truro, Cornwall
Warren Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk
Godalming, Surrey
Hereford, Herefordshire
Chichester, West Sussex
Bognor Regis, West Sussex
Newport, South Wales
Talbot Heath, Dorset
Rugby, Warwickshire
Cannock, Staffordshire
Leek, Staffordshire
Winterstoke Road, Bristol
Hazel Grove, Stockport, Greater Manchester
Morecambe, Lancashire
Darlington, County Durham
Monks Cross, Huntington, North Yorkshire
Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon
Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Durham, County Durham
Bamber Bridge, Lancashire
Weedon Road, Northampton, East Midlands
Hempstead Valley, Kent
Hedge End, Hampshire
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Thanet Westwood Cross, Kent
Stanway, Colchester, Essex
Castle Point, Essex
Isle of Wight
Keighley, West Yorkshire
Swadlincote, Derbyshire
Leicester North, East Midlands
Wakefield Marsh Way, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Torquay, Devon
Waterlooville, Hampshire
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Cheadle, Greater Manchester
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Low retail sales in key Christmas month
Why is Sainsbury’s doing this?
All the proposals, Sainsbury’s said, were subject to consultation.
But chief executive Simon Roberts said of the plans: “We are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.
“The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum but have also meant some difficult choices impacting our dedicated colleagues in a number of parts of our business. We’ll be doing everything we can to support anyone impacted by today’s announcements.”
The cuts were revealed despite the company’s decision, a fortnight ago, to award inflation-busting pay rises to store workers across the business, which also includes Argos, this year.
That same day, Sainsbury’s also revealed a leap in Christmas sales.
Mr Roberts is among business leaders to have publicly spoken out after October’s budget put firms on the hook for the bulk of £40bn in tax increases.
He warned then that additional costs would be met with consequences, including higher prices for customers, as the chain did not have the “capacity to absorb” a “barrage of costs”.
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Sainsbury’s, he explained, was facing an additional annual bill of £140m from April to cover the cost of additional employer national insurance contributions alone.
The company currently employs 148,000 people.
Industry bodies have widely warned that higher costs will choke investment and jobs.
The government has consistently argued that the budget tax hikes were a one-off to cover a gaping hole in Treasury coffers left by the previous administration – a claim the Conservatives have denied.
Asked how the government would respond to suggestions that layoffs at the supermarket were influenced by the budget, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Growing the economy, backing businesses, putting more money in people’s pockets are obviously the priority.
“It is only by growing the economy we can fund our public services and raise living standards.
“But as we said at the budget, difficult decisions were needed to restore economic stability, and put the public finances back on to a stable footing following the £22bn black hole, and that was a precursor to driving economic growth.”
