Morrisons sales jump days after announcing 365 staff face redundancy

Morrisons has announced a surge in sales to £4 billion in its latest quarter, just days after the supermarket revealed that hundreds of jobs are at risk. The grocery behemoth reported a 2.4% increase in sales for the quarter ending January 26 compared to the same period last year, while also raising its savings targets.

The firm disclosed that it achieved £56 million in savings during this period and upped its long-term savings goal from £700 million to £1 billion. CEO Rami Baitieh acknowledged that Morrisons was operating in "a challenging environment" and that the revised savings target would "help us offset cost headwinds, invest for customers and remain competitive in a fast-changing market".

Earlier this week, Morrisons declared that 365 jobs were under threat due to plans to shutter some of its cafes, convenience stores, florists and fresh food counters. The supermarket chain explained that the cost of running these services exceeded the revenue generated from customer spending.

The planned closures will result in the shutdown of 52 cafes, all 18 market kitchens, 17 Morrisons Daily convenience stores, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies. According to Kantar's data, Morrisons is the UK's fifth largest supermarket and employs approximately 95,000 staff nationwide.

Mr Baitieh praised the supermarket's swift advancement, attributing it to the dedication and customer-oriented approach of the staff across various sectors, saying: "has made exceptional progress in a very short time and that is entirely down to the hard work, positivity, talent and customer focus of the colleagues in our stores, in our food-making sites and in our operations across the country".

This growth in sales has been achieved notwithstanding a significant cyber attack before Christmas, which continued to disrupt product availability well into January.