When Morrisons announced last week it was unleashing some much-needed ‘Morrisons Magic’ on Market Street, few expected the closure of dozens of fresh meat and fish counters, florists and pharmacies, and more than 50 cafés.

The shuttering of 17 convenience stores and the total shutdown of the pioneering Market Kitchen format (which only made its debut in 2019) didn’t seem on the cards, either.

Such are the times, however, that even the treasured Market Street is not immune to being affected by the hundreds of millions of pounds Morrisons is cutting from its operations, in the face of major economic pressures. That’s despite CEO Rami Baitiéh continuing to insist it is a “beacon of differentiation” for the supermarket.

With Q1 results due out on Wednesday, it is clear that the former Carrefour boss still has major hurdles to get over as the supermarket enters the second year of his turnaround programme. It is not going to be easy, especially for the nearly 400 people at risk of losing their jobs as a result.

Blame the budget

Sad as they are, today’s cutbacks are not exactly a surprise. The Grocer revealed in January that Baitiéh was contemplating further cuts as he accelerated plans to make hundreds of millions in efficiency savings.

That came on top of the more than 200 staff axed from its retail people team at the start of the year.

Baitiéh has laid much of the blame at the door of the government. He has been an outspoken critic of moves to increase taxation in the October budget, and it’s either a convenient coincidence or pointed timing that those cuts come as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to face the music with her spring statement.

Of course, it’s possible Baitiéh may be holding back more positive news for his own important announcements on Wednesday – though the fact there is no press call suggests not.

Either way, the cuts don’t make for good reading. With almost 100 fresh counters, more than 50 cafés and 17 convenience stores on the chopping block, the fact that Market Street has been cut back flies in the face of Morrisons’ insistence for many years that it will not follow other supermarkets in cutting its famous fresh offering.

Morrisons’ magic

The job of Morrisons’ group trading director Andrew Staniland, who – as The Grocer revealed last week – is planning to launch an overhaul of the Market Street offer, under the Morrisons’ Magic strapline, will be a harder sell now.

In fact, Asda boss Allan Leighton was at pains to point out last week that – although so much attention has been given to the travails of Asda, while others were looking at cutting back on areas such as in-store cafés, it was investing in its offer.

That comparison doesn’t look too good for Morrisons in the light of today’s news, and the supermarket won’t want to start competing again with Asda for negative headlines.

While the Market Kitchen brand – which first launched in Canning Town in 2019, and now has 17 branches elsewhere – has nowhere near the kudos of the fresh counter concept from which it takes its name, the fact it’s closing altogether is also a grim sign of the times.

There was genuine excitement when Morrisons first unveiled its offer, as it sought to create a fusion between food to go and the supermarket café. It was, we were told, a slice of the future being served up by the retailer.

Now, along with a long list of other “surplus to requirements” assets, it is destined for the supermarket scrapheap.

The brutal reality for Morrisons, however, is that anything could be seen as surplus to requirements beyond simply being competitive in a market that – thanks to the economic backdrop and a price war ramped up significantly by Asda’s recent moves – is perhaps more competitive than it has ever been.

“Morrisons is on the defensive, closing services seen as nice-to-have, but not essential,” says Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“It clearly wants to free up cash to be as value-focused as possible, as an intense period of competition is forecast.”

Let’s just hope, as it suggests, Morrisons can find jobs for most of those staff impacted by today’s bad news.

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