Sainsbury's to cut 3,000 jobs as it closes cafes, hot food counters

(Sharecast News) - Sainsbury's said on Thursday that it would be cutting 3,000 jobs, including a 20% reduction of senior management roles, as it closes its remaining patisserie, hot food and pizza counters. As part of its plans to simplify the business, the supermarket retailer will also be closing its 61 remaining cafes.

Sainsbury's said most of its shoppers do not regularly use the cafes and that the cafes and food halls run by specialist partners are becoming increasingly popular.

Chief executive Simon Robert said: "We launched our Next Level Strategy almost a year ago and are totally focused on making good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day. As a result, we're seeing real momentum across our business, with a best-ever value position, leading quality and increasing market share.

"As we accelerate into year two and beyond of our strategy, 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.

"The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum but have also meant some difficult choices impacting our dedicated colleagues in a number of parts of our business. We'll be doing everything we can to support anyone impacted by today's announcements."