Morrisons to invest £7m in Channel Island convenience stores

Morrisons has revealed its acquisition of 36 convenience stores in Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney from SandpiperCI has now been completed and also unveiled plans to invest over £7m into the estate.

There are currently 19 Morrisons Daily stores and the remainder operate under the Iceland, Chequers Express and Le Cocq brands.

In the coming months all stores, with the exception of the two Le Cocq stores, will be rebranded to the Morrisons format, and Morrisons plans to invest the £7m sum in the conversion programme and in the fabric of all the stores.

Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons chief executive, said: “I am delighted that now the transaction has completed we can welcome 520 new colleagues into the Morrisons family. It’s a great business with great colleagues and we are all looking forward to the exciting next chapter.”

Joseph Sutton, Morrisons Convenience, Online and Wholesale director, added: “New ownership provides an opportunity for a reset and a step forward in the offer we can provide for our customers. So we are listening carefully to our customers to find out exactly what they would like to see in the stores under Morrisons ownership. We are looking at bringing new exciting ranges, including more of the great fresh food that Morrisons is known for, together with additional ranges including clothing and homeware.

“We are particularly pleased to be bringing our popular loyalty card – the Morrisons More Card – to the Channel Islands. The More Card awards points on purchases as well as access to a variety of special prices for card holders.”

Morrisons currently has around 1,600 convenience stores across the UK, of which c.600 are franchise stores, together with approximately 500 full-sized supermarkets.