Waitrose has announced it will create up to 4,000 jobs this year after receiving the go ahead for its acquisition of 13 Co operative Group (Co-op) stores.
The deal to buy the Co-op stores – which must be sold as part of the Co-op’s acquisition of Somerfield – will create 1,500 jobs, while a further 2,000 jobs will be created by the opening of nine new Waitrose stores this year.
The 13 Co-op shops will give Waitrose a fifth shop in Wales and second stores in Tyne and Wear, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire. It will also increase its presence in the southwest of the UK with two new shops in Devon.
Waitrose managing director Mark Price commented: “There is a real weight of evidence that businesses that continue to invest during tough economic times fare much better when the economy begins to recover.”
“Our new shops will help ensure Waitrose is in the best shape possible coming out of the recession .”
The 22 new shops in total will take Waitrose’s supermarket portfolio to 220 stores in the UK.
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