Tesco to close 43 stores
08/01/2015
Supermarket giant Tesco have announced plans to close 43 stores across the UK after its sales fell by 2.9%. They will also be moving their staff headquarters from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire to Welwyn Garden City.
The closures will mainly effect local convenience shops, but the supermarket also announced that it would be shelving plans to open a further 49 new, very large stores. They will also be closing their staff pension scheme, which is one of the most generous in the country. This will make cuts of £250 million and reduce overheads by 30%. In an even further bid to cut costs, plans have been announced to sell the analytics business behind Clubcard, scrap the dividend payout to shareholders, and slash 30% of the retailer's central costs.
Tesco has been plagued with falling sales and scandals over the last few years, with overall, comparable sales for the three months to the beginning of January falling by 2.9%.In the previous three months, sales had dropped by 5.4%.
The changes come under the new chief executive David Lewis, who made drastic changes while he worked for Uniliever. He said:
"I am very conscious that the consequences of these changes are significant for all stakeholders in our business but we are facing the reality of the situation.
"Our recent performance gives us confidence that when we pull together and put the customer first we can deliver the right results.”
This news comes after rival supermarket Sainsburys announced this week that it suffered its first fall in Christmas sales for more than a decade, and all four of the big UK supermarkets face tough competition from discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl.
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