Sainsbury's to cut over 3,000 jobs as budget tax hikes loom

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 massive 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.

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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

Why is Sainsbury’s doing this?

All the proposals, Sainsbury’s said, were subject to consultation.

But chief executive Simon Roberts said of the plans: “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.

That same day, Sainsbury’s also revealed a leap in Christmas sales.

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.

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.