UK supermarket to close 35 fish counters as part of wider restructuring plan.
UK supermarket chain Morrisons will close 35 of its in-store fish counters, alongside a series of other service changes, as part of a company-wide restructuring aimed at bringing operational costs in line with usage and customer demand, the company announced Monday.
The closures come following a wide-ranging internal review, which identified areas where certain services were underused or no longer commercially viable. In total, the company will shut 35 fish counters, 35 meat counters, 52 cafés, 18 Market Kitchens, 17 convenience stores, 13 florists, and 4 pharmacies over the coming months.
According to the company, around 365 roles are at risk of redundancy, although the majority of affected staff are expected to be offered redeployment opportunities within Morrisons.
“Morrisons Cafés are rightly famous… but a minority have specific local challenges and in those locations, regrettably, closure and re-allocation of the space is the only sensible option,” said CEO Rami Baitiéh, who added that the changes were part of plans to “renew and reinvigorate Morrisons”.
While Baitiéh reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its Market Street fresh food concept, he noted that some elements, including service counters, were “simply uneconomic” in certain stores. Morrisons may look to partner with third-party operators to provide alternative specialist services where appropriate.
Morrisons is the latest major UK retailer to scale back its in-store fish offering. In 2023, Tesco—the UK’s largest supermarket—closed all 279 of its remaining fish counters, citing declining demand and stating that counters were no longer a key driver for customer visits. Sainsbury’s also permanently shut its fish, meat and deli counters in 2020, following what it described as sustained drops in usage and operational losses.
Financial improvements
Morrisons, the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket chain, has reported notable financial improvements for the fiscal year ending October 27, 2024. The company achieved a 3.8% increase in total revenue, reaching £15.3 billion, up from £14.7 billion in the previous year.
Like-for-like sales, which exclude the impact of new store openings and closures, rose by 4.1% over the year. The fourth quarter was particularly strong, with a 4.9% increase—the most significant quarterly growth since early 2021. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 11.2%, totaling £835 million.
Despite these gains, Morrisons continues to address financial challenges associated with its private equity ownership. The company has reduced its net debt to £4 billion, down from a peak of £6.2 billion, through strategic initiatives such as the sale of its petrol forecourts to Motor Fuel Group for £2.5 billion in April 2024.
