McColl's shops in Gateshead, Sunderland and Ashington are among the 132 stores which will be closed as part of Morrisons' restructuring of the convenience chain.
The shutters will come down on a total of nine North East stores by the end of the year, after Morrisons confirmed it would purchase the failing convenience store chain in May. The 132 closures will put 1,300 jobs at risk througout the UK, although the supermarket chain has said that affected colleague will be offered alternative employment either at a local store or in another part of the business.
The news came as the supermarket chain set out its plans for McColls, which it rescued from administration earlier this year in a £190m rescue bid which saved around 16,000 jobs at the time. Morrisons also outlined plans to speed up the conversion programme, aiming to convert the “substantial majority” of McColl’s branches to Morrisons Daily stores within two years.
However the chain said that 132 McColl's shops show “no realistic prospect of achieving a breakeven position in the medium term”. Seven of the nine stores in the region include a Post Office, meaning people living in the communities will potentially have to travel further for counter services.
The list of North East stores due to close is:
- Gateshead : 8 Fewster Square, NE10 8XQ
- Darlington: Yarm Road,- DL1 1XL
The stores including a Post Office earmarked for closure are:
- Sunderland : Hylton Castle,SR5 3PZ
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Ashington : Meadowfield, NE63 9TR
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Wingate: Front Street, TS28 5AA
- Billingham: Neasham Avenue, TS23 3QZ
- Darlington: Whitby Way, DL3 9UH
- Normanby: 33 High Street, TS6 0NH
- Redcar: Gurney Street, TS11 8EQ
Morrisons chief executive, David Potts told Grocery Gazette : “We are now able to begin the urgent journey to transform McColl’s into a viable, well-invested and growing operation. I’m confident that the McColl’s conversions, combined with the increased competitiveness that will be unlocked through investment and synergies, will make Morrisons a growing force in the important convenience market in the years to come.”
Morrisons convenience, online and wholesale director Joseph Sutton admitted that Morrisons has a “great deal of work to do” but said there was no question that McColl’s is a “business with strong potential”. He said: “We very much regret the proposed closure of 132 loss-making stores but it is, very sadly, an important step towards the regeneration of the business”.
The first McColl’s store was opened in Glasgow in 1901 by former Newcastle United centre forward Robert Smyth McColl. The group was founded in 1973 and purchased and merged with various other chains in its 49 years of trading.
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