SAINSBURY’S is set to make a big change to its stores and it will leave customers furious.
One of the UK’s largest supermarkets is closing all remaining patisserie, bakery, roaster and pizza counters in its larger branches.
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Sainsbury’s spins off confectionery departments from larger branchesCredit: Alamy
It will also close 61 existing in-store cafes and lay off 3,000 head office staff.
The counter changes announced by Sainsbury’s do not apply to smaller local stores.
The most popular items that are currently sold from the counters of pastry shops and pizzerias will be moved to the shelves of other stores.
This means customers will still be able to get bakery items such as Hovis bread and Mr Kipling cakes, while self-service bread slicers will be introduced.
Chickens usually sold at the grill counters will be moved to warm cabinets next to the sandwich cooler.
A Sainsbury’s insider said the vacated counter space will be replaced by areas selling gluten-free and dairy-free products.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said the supermarket was facing a “challenging cost environment”.
He added: “The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to build on our momentum, but have also meant some difficult decisions affecting our dedicated colleagues across many parts of our business.
“We will do everything we can to support everyone affected by today’s announcements.”
Sainsbury’s said the decision to close the remaining 61 cafes was made because fewer loyal customers were using them.
The supermarket said its hybrid cafe and food halls are proving popular with customers.
They are likely to replace the coffee shops with restaurants run by franchises, such as Starbucks and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which already have locations in some of their stores.
Here is the full list of cafes that will close:
- Fosse Park
- Pontypridd
- Rustington
- Scarborough
- Penzance
- Denton
- Wrexham
- Long water
- Ely
- Pontllanfraith
- Emersons Green
- Nantwich
- Pinhoe Road
- Pepper Hill – Northfleet
- Marshall Lake
- Rhyl
- Lincoln
- Bridgemead
- Larkfield
- Whitchurch Bargates
- Sedlescombe Road
- Barnstaple
- Dewsbury
- Kings Lynn Hardwick
- Truro
- Warren Heath
- Godalming
- Hereford
- Chichester
- Bognor Regis
- Newport
- Talbot Heath
- Rugby
- Cannock
- Leek
- Winterstoke Road
- Hazel Grove
- Morecambe
- Darlington
- Monk’s cross
- Marsh Mills
- Springfield
- Durham
- Bamber bridge
- Weedon Road
- Hempstead Valley
- Hedge End
- Bury St Edmunds
- Thanet Westwood Cross
- Stanway
- Castle Point
- Isle of Wight
- Keighley
- Swadlincote
- Leicester North
- Wakefield Marsh Way
- Torquay
- Waterlooville
- Macclesfield
- Harrogate
- Cheadle
REDUCTION OF JOBS IN THE HEAD OFFICE
Sainsbury’s also said today that it wants to reorganize its head office departments to “become dedicated to the different needs” of the business, meaning 3,000 roles will be cut.
It will see around 20% of senior management roles at the supermarket giant as part of plans to focus on smaller, bigger roles and to streamline its head office and management teams.
The cuts come after Sainsbury’s announced its “biggest ever” Christmas trading period and said full-year profit was likely to be between £1.01bn and £1.06bn earlier in January.
But the supermarket is also trying to cut costs by £1billion a year and last year cut around 1,500 jobs, mainly from a contact center in Cheshire.
The company said at the end of 2024 that the tax hike in October’s budget would hit it with an extra £140m of costs, warning that the changes would also lead to higher inflation.
The government is ready to increase employers’ national insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15% from April.
The threshold at which bosses will have to pay tax on workers’ wages is also being lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
Meanwhile, the national minimum wage will also rise, putting additional pressure on employers.
It comes after Sainsbury’s said it would give staff a 5% pay rise this year, with wages rising to £13.85 an hour by August.
The Unite union, which represents more than 7,000 Sainsbury’s workers, said the head office job cuts were the result of “corporate greed”, pointing to the retailer’s huge profits in recent years.
Bally Auluk, the national official of shopkeepers union Usdaw, said they would “work hard to ensure that our members are supported throughout the process and that as many people as possible remain employed by the company”.
AXING PARTS OF THE SUPERMARKET
Sainsbury’s is not the first supermarket to announce a major overhaul of its stores, with Tesco ditching delis and hot food counters in 2023.
The move comes after the retailer said it had noticed a big drop in demand to use its counters in previous years.
Tesco said all staff working in the departments will be offered new roles in the business.
The move to close underutilized counters began in 2019, when Tesco also said it would cut 9,000 jobs.
Earlier this month, Morrisons also said it would cut operations at its Rathbones bakery hub in Wakefield, The Grocer reported.
The 28,000-square-foot facility will stop making specialty bakery products and will pump out fewer products.
How to save money at the grocery store
Consumer journalist Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Unusual boxes – many retailers offer slightly deformed fruits and vegetables or excess food at a discounted price.
Lidl is selling five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme, while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags containing £10 worth of all sorts of produce for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s is also selling £2 ‘Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me’ fruit and veg boxes to help customers reduce food waste and save money.
Food Waste Apps – Food waste apps work by helping grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, and other businesses to transfer supplies that are about to expire and pass them on to the public.
Some of the most notable include Too Good to Go and Olio.
The Too Good to Go app is free to sign up and is used by millions of people across the UK, allowing users to buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except that users can also collect food and other household items from neighbors and businesses for free.
Yellow Bargain Stickers – Yellow Bargain Stickers, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way to get food on the cheap.
But the time to go to get the best deals depends on the seller. Here you can see the best times for each supermarket.
Super Bargains – Sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups such as Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post bargains they’ve found, including food finds.
“Downshifting” – you’ll almost always save money on supermarket own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
Downshifting, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education