Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Morrisons to close 132 loss-making McColl’s stores with over 1,300 jobs at risk

by November 2, 2022
November 2, 2022
Morrisons to close 132 loss-making McColl’s stores with over 1,300 jobs at risk

Wm Morrison Supermarkets has said that it will close 132 lossmaking McColl’s convenience stores that it bought this year, putting about 1,300 jobs at risk.

The chain was rescued from insolvency in May by Morrisons, which beat the owners of Asda — the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, the private equity firm — to seal the deal. Morrisons agreed to pay the convenience stores’ lenders, which were owed about £160 million, upfront.

The McColl’s brand can trace its roots to 1901 when Robert Smyth McColl, a Scottish footballer, opened his first shop in Glasgow. In 2014 it was floated on the stock exchange with a valuation of £200 million, which had fallen to about £3.2 million by the time the company went into administration. As a standalone company McColl’s had annual sales of £1.2 billion, representing around 0.8 per cent of the grocery market in the UK.

Morrisons said that most of the stores would be shut by the end of the year, although 55 that also contain a Post Office would remain open until 2023.

Joseph Sutton, its convenience, online and wholesale director, said: “We have a great deal of work to do, but there’s no question that McColl’s is a business with strong potential.”

Morrisons plans to convert the majority of the remaining stores to its Morrisons Daily format “within the next two to three years”. McColl’s had already begun to rebrand its stores under the Morrisons name in 2019 and by the time the company entered administration 286 of its stores had been converted to the new format.

Morrisons, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was itself bought last year in a £7 billion, highly leveraged deal by Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the private equity firm. It had been a public company for 54 years and started trading as an egg and butter stall opened by William Morrison in 1899.

The closure of the 132 McColl’s stores, which make up 10 per cent of the shops that changed hands in May, comes as the supermarket chain has struggled with rising borrowing costs in the market turmoil. More than half of Morrisons’ longer-term debt is at a floating rate, with no interest hedging in place. Some of the bonds issued by Morrisons, due to mature in 2029, are trading at 77p, suggesting that the market views the company as a risky investment.

Moody’s, the rating agency, forecasts that every move of 25 basis points in interest rates will increase Morrisons’ annual interest by between £7 million and £8 million. It is forecast that the Bank of England will increase rates from 2.25 per cent to 4.25 per cent over the next six months.

Read more:
Morrisons to close 132 loss-making McColl’s stores with over 1,300 jobs at risk

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Britishvolt staves off collapse with funding boost and steep staff pay cut
next post
Republican Don Bolduc Takes Lead In New Hampshire Senate Race

You may also like

Jeremy Vine pursued by HMRC for alleged unpaid...

July 10, 2024

Jaguar joins rivals by delaying full electric transition...

April 15, 2024

Private sector growth flat in August as demand...

August 24, 2022

ICO reprimands Sky Betting and gaming for using...

September 17, 2024

The Importance of Having a .com Domain When...

August 30, 2024

Food inflation hits another record high as pressure...

May 2, 2023

UK SMEs owed an annual average of nearly...

September 22, 2022

Powervault secures £3.8 million to grow British-made electricity...

April 12, 2023

The Fastest Managed WordPress Hosting in New Zealand

February 8, 2023

Social housing reform sees MMC industry respond with...

May 9, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ faces Republican family feud as Senate reveals its final text

      June 28, 2025
    • Senate shuts down Kaine’s attempt to check Trump’s war powers

      June 28, 2025
    • 3 Stock Setups for the Second Half of 2025

      June 28, 2025
    • Trump touts administration’s progress on peace deals, says world leaders ‘respect our country again’

      June 27, 2025
    • Venezuelan opposition member details harrowing 400-day captivity at UN

      June 27, 2025
    • Anxious Republicans turn to Trump amid divisions over ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 27, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,329)
    • Investing (2,081)
    • Politics (15,843)
    • Stocks (3,176)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved