Morrisons revenue up 2.8% to £15.7B but 4,912 jobs cut

For retail operators, Morrisons' accounts lay bare the tension between protecting revenue and cutting costs in a discount-dominated grocery market. A 2.8% sales increase to £15.7 billion could not stop 4,912 job losses, while net debt climbed to £7.52 billion. The numbers reveal a chain that is shrinking its cost base as much as it is rebuilding its competitive position.

Morrisons, the UK's sixth-largest supermarket group, cut nearly 5,000 jobs in the year to October 2025, according to accounts filed at Companies House and reported on 17 August 2026. The Bradford-based retailer said its average monthly workforce fell from 101,144 to 96,232, a reduction of 4,912 people or roughly 4.9%. More than 4,200 of the lost roles were in stores, while food manufacturing and distribution positions were also hit. A company spokesman attributed the decline to the closure of the newspaper home delivery service in convenience stores, the restructuring of the retail people team, and the downsizing of the Rathbones bakery business. The cuts are part of a wider turnaround programme led by chief executive Rami Baitieh, whose task is to stop Morrisons losing ground to German discount rivals Aldi and Lidl.

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The Bradford-based retailer said its average monthly workforce fell from 101,144 to 96,232, a reduction of 4,912 people or roughly 4.9%.

The context is a private-equity-owned grocery chain trying to service a heavy debt load while fighting for relevance in a brutally competitive market. Morrisons was acquired by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021 in a deal that loaded the business with debt. The latest accounts show reported net debt rose to £7.52 billion for the year, up from £7.07 billion a year earlier. That figure includes lease liabilities and preference shares; excluding those items, net debt stood at £3.2 billion. The direction of travel matters: even as the company cuts jobs and simplifies operations, its headline debt burden is growing. For a business with £15.7 billion in annual revenue, the debt and interest servicing requirement leaves little room for strategic error.

Revenue increased by 2.8% to £15.7 billion over the year, a modest gain that is not enough on its own to convince investors or suppliers that the turnaround is complete. The revenue growth came despite a cyber incident that caused an IT systems outage just before Christmas 2024 and hit product availability at one of the most important trading periods of the year. That incident exposed operational fragility at a time when grocers must deliver reliable online and in-store supply chains. The fact that Morrisons still grew revenue suggests underlying demand held up, but the cost of the disruption and any customer goodwill lost around Christmas may be felt for longer than a single quarter.

The job reductions are not merely a short-term cost measure; they signal structural change. Closing a newspaper home delivery service removes a low-margin, declining channel. Downsizing the Rathbones bakery business suggests consolidation of manufacturing capacity. Restructuring the retail people team points to a leaner management layer. For a supermarket, however, store staff reductions of more than 4,200 roles carry operational risk: fewer colleagues can mean slower replenishment, longer queues, and weaker customer service, which is dangerous when Aldi and Lidl are already winning on price and simplicity. Morrisons has historically marketed itself around fresh food and Market Street counters, a proposition that depends on skilled in-store staff. Cutting too deeply in stores could undermine the very differentiators it needs against the discounters.