Shropshire and Mid Wales Tesco staff waiting to hear on future
Shropshire and Mid Wales branches of Tesco could be in the firing line after the retail giant announced it was to close dozens of stores in a massive shake-up of the business.
The company has not yet confirmed the locations of the 43 unprofitable branches which are to shut as part of a raft of measures aimed at turning around the group's fortunes, but chief executive Dave Lewis said a "significant proportion" would be Tesco Express convenience shops.
Britain's biggest supermarket made the announcement as it revealed like-for-like sales for the 19 weeks to January 3 fell by 2.9 per cent, though they were not as bad over the six-week period including Christmas, falling by 0.3 per cent.
Tesco has branches all over Shropshire, including superstores at Battlefield in Shrewsbury, the Wrekin Retail Park and Madeley in Telford, Canal Way in Ellesmere, Station Drive in Ludlow, White Lion Meadow in Whitchurch and Smithfield Road in Welshpool. Its Express outlets include those in Shrewsbury, Hadley, and Bridgnorth.
In total, the company has more than 6,000 stores around the world, of which more than 3,000 are in the UK. The company has also declined to reveal how many jobs will be lost because of the closures.
Tesco also said it was to close its final salary pension scheme. A restructuring of central overheads is expected to save £250 million a year.
In addition to the shutting of shops, the group announced a "significant revision" to its store-building programme, which will see its planned new megastore in the centre of Wolverhampton hit the buffers.
Mr Lewis said: "We have some very difficult changes to make. I am very conscious that the consequences of these changes are significant for all stakeholders.
Pauline Foulkes and Joanne McGowan of the Usdaw union, said: "We recognise that some change is inevitable, given the challenges faced by the business but we will want to ensure a fair approach is taken.
