Sainsbury’s to close 200 cafes putting 2,000 jobs at risk

Sainsbury's is set to close 200 of its in-store cafes next month, putting about 2,000 jobs at risk.

The supermarket also announced plans on Tuesday to close less popular hot food counters in 34 stores.

Chief executive Simon Roberts said the chain was "absolutely committed" to supporting the members of staff affected.

They will be prioritised for vacant jobs and encouraged to look at alternative roles within the business.

It comes as part of new plans aimed at updating the supermarket's eat-in, takeaway and home delivery food and drink offer for customers.

The move follows a trial of a new "food hall" format called The Restaurant Hub at its Selly Oak store in Birmingham.

Off the back of the trial, Sainsbury's plans to open 30 more of the food halls in 2022, as well as 30 Starbucks coffee shops in its supermarkets over the next 12 months.

It is currently working in partnership with the Boparan Restaurant Group on the project. As part of the trial, customers were able to choose options from the likes of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Ed's Diner and Slim Chickens.

Sainsbury's said it could increase the number of food halls in future years, if they continued to perform well with customers.

Sixty-seven cafes will remain open while Sainsbury's reviews roll-out plans.

In a statement, the supermarket said it had spoken to all of its cafe workers today about the closure plans.

It also said that it would "simplify the way it runs its bakeries" in 54 stores and hold talks with those workers, with the aim of redeploying them in other departments in-store if possible.

The retailer has already closed its fresh fish, cheese and meat counters.

Mr Roberts said: "We are totally focused on improving what we can deliver for our customers and at the same time, working hard to make our business simpler.

"We are really excited about this new customer offer we will be rolling out over the next two to three years across many of our stores."

He added, however, that he acknowledged this was an "uncertain" time for many members of staff.

"Of course, we understand this is very unsettling for our colleagues, but we must keep adapting our business to make sure we are offering customers the best possible food and drink at affordable prices," he said.