Morrisons plans to close 100 loss-making convenience stores it inherited from McColl's

On 22 May 2026 Morrisons said it planned to close 100 stores in coming months. It said the affected convenience stores had been loss-making for some time and had come with its acquisition of McColl's in 2022. It said that the difficulty had been 'exacerbated in more recent years' by cost increases from government policy choices, including higher national living wage and National Insurance.

The plan followed Morrisons' announcement the year before that it was closing 52 cafes and 17 convenience stores, and a month earlier a disclosure that about 200 jobs were at risk at its Bradford headquarters. The company said the stores' performance had been challenged for a number of years and was loss-making 'despite remedial action'. It did not say which stores would close or how many staff faced redundancy; the BBC understood that hundreds of jobs would be affected.

Morrisons has around 1,700 Morrisons Daily convenience stores and opened more than 120 franchise stores the previous year. It said it had a 'robust expansion plan' for 2026 and saw the chance to open hundreds more franchise stores. A government spokesperson said closing the stores was a commercial decision for Morrisons.

100 stores closing, hundreds of jobs expected to be affected; follows 52 cafes and 17 convenience stores closed the year before.

The stores came through the 2022 McColl's acquisition and had lost money for years despite remedial action, in Morrisons' own account.

Morrisons attributed part of the difficulty to rising labour costs from the national living wage and National Insurance.

The year before, Morrisons had already announced the closure of 52 cafes and 17 convenience stores.

Morrisons chose to keep growing through franchise stores while shrinking its owned convenience estate.

Buying a distressed chain's stores does not fix their economics. Conversions that do not reach profit within a few years end up as closures.

Morrisons said a consultation would start shortly and that it would try to find other opportunities for staff affected. The BBC report does not say which stores close or the final job losses.