Sainsbury’s has revealed plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs.
The supermarket said the move was a bid to save money ahead of a £140m leap in costs from budget tax measures, due to come into force within weeks.
Head office and senior management roles are among those affected, the chain said, adding that the cost-saving drive would also result in the closure of its remaining cafes, hot food, patisserie, and pizza counters.
All the proposals, Sainsbury’s added, were subject to consultation.
Chief executive Simon Roberts said: “We are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.”
He made the announcement despite the company’s decision, a fortnight ago, to award inflation-busting pay rises to store workers across the business, which also includes Argos.
Mr Roberts is among business leaders to have publicly spoken out after October’s budget put firms on the hook for the bulk of £40bn in tax increases.
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He warned then that additional costs would result in higher prices for customers as the chain did not have the “capacity to absorb” a “barrage of costs”.
Sainsbury’s, he explained, was facing an additional annual bill of £140m from April to cover the cost of additional employer national insurance contributions alone.
Industry bodies have widely spoken of how higher costs will choke investment and jobs.
Cafes are due to shut at the following locations:
Fosse Park, Leicestershire
Pontypridd, South Wales
Rustington, West Sussex
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Penzance, Cornwall
Denton, Greater Manchester
Wrexham, North Wales
Longwater, Norwich, Norfolk
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Pontllanfraith, South Wales
Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire
Nantwich, Cheshire
Pinhoe Road, Exeter, Devon
Pepper Hill – Northfleet, Kent
Marshall Lake, Solihull, West Midlands
Rhyl, North Wales
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Bridgemead, Swindon, Wiltshire
Larkfield, Aylesford, Kent
Whitchurch Bargates, Shropshire
Sedlescombe Road, Hastings, East Sussex
Barnstaple, Devon
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Kings Lynn Hardwick, Norfolk
Truro, Cornwall
Warren Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk
Godalming, Surrey
Hereford, Herefordshire
Chichester, West Sussex
Bognor Regis, West Sussex
Newport, South Wales
Talbot Heath, Dorset
Rugby, Warwickshire
Cannock, Staffordshire
Leek, Staffordshire
Winterstoke Road, Bristol
Hazel Grove, Stockport, Greater Manchester
Morecambe, Lancashire
Darlington, County Durham
Monks Cross, Huntington, North Yorkshire
Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon
Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Durham, County Durham
Bamber Bridge, Lancashire
Weedon Road, Northampton, East Midlands
Hempstead Valley, Kent
Hedge End, Hampshire
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Thanet Westwood Cross, Kent
Stanway, Colchester, Essex
Castle Point, Essex
Isle of Wight
Keighley, West Yorkshire
Swadlincote, Derbyshire
Leicester North, East Midlands
Wakefield Marsh Way, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Torquay, Devon
Waterlooville, Hampshire
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Cheadle, Greater Manchester
