Morrisons is shutting around 100 company-owned convenience stores, all former McColl’s outlets, after years of losses that the supermarket says were made worse by government tax and wage policies.
The closures affect the Morrisons Daily estate and will unfold over the coming months. Staff at affected stores were told on Thursday, May 22, 2026.
A formal redundancy consultation has begun, though the retailer has not confirmed the precise number of jobs at risk.
How the McColl’s Deal Set the Stage for These Closures
Morrisons acquired all 1,160 McColl’s stores on May 9, 2022, through a pre-packaged insolvency arrangement after McColl’s lenders withdrew their support for the business.
The deal was valued at £190 million.
Morrisons took on McColl’s entire workforce and its two pension schemes, then spent the following two years converting the stores to the Morrisons Daily fascia.
All remaining McColl’s shopfronts were converted to the Morrisons Daily brand by September 2024. Despite that investment, a large portion of the inherited estate never recovered commercially.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “This process has identified a number of stores, which were part of the McColl’s acquisition, whose performance has been challenged for a number of years and which are loss making, despite remedial action.”
How Government Policy Worsened an Already Difficult Position
Morrisons pointed directly at two policy changes for compounding losses at the stores: the increase to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and the rise in the National Living Wage.
Employer NIC rates rose in April 2025, with the rate increasing from 13.8% to 15% and the secondary threshold, the earnings level at which employers start paying, lowered from £9,100 to £5,000 per year.
For an employee earning £20,000 per year, employer contributions rose by 50%, from £1,504 in 2024-25 to £2,250 in 2025-26.
The change carried a disproportionately higher impact for employers in low-wage sectors such as retail.
The British Retail Consortium estimated that NIC changes and National Living Wage increases added more than £7 billion to retail industry costs in 2025.
The Morrisons spokesperson said the situation at the closing stores “has been exacerbated in more recent years by significant cost increases resulting from UK Government policy choices,” making a return to profitability even more difficult.
What the Closures Mean for Staff and Shoppers
Morrisons confirmed that affected convenience store colleagues are now at risk of redundancy and that consultation has commenced.
The retailer said it would work to find alternative roles elsewhere in the business, including in supermarket, logistics, and manufacturing operations.
Morrisons also committed to directing customers to nearby stores and online services to limit disruption.
Where Morrisons Daily Goes From Here
Despite the cuts, Morrisons insists its convenience business remains a growth priority. The retailer currently operates around 1,700 Morrisons Daily shops, with approximately 700 run by franchisees.
It opened more than 120 new franchise outlets in 2025 and has outlined targets for further expansion in 2026.
Rather than company-owned sites, the vast majority of planned new openings are expected to be franchise stores.
Morrisons is also looking to sell some of its remaining company-owned stores to franchisees.
The spokesperson added: “We continue to see the opportunity to open hundreds more franchise convenience stores in the years ahead.”
The 100 closures are the latest in a string of changes to the convenience division. In February 2026, convenience director Matt Heslop left the company after less than a year in the role.
Morrisons then restructured its convenience buying team, merging commercial and support functions with its supermarket buying team into a single division.
No firm closing dates for individual stores have been announced. Morrisons said the process would conclude over the next few months.
