Tesco to cut 4,500 jobs from UK Metro stores but Irish staff safe

Tesco has said it is to cut around 4,500 jobs from its Metro stores in a new wave of redundancies designed to cut costs and reposition the group to compete in a highly challenging environment.

The company said it would restructure the stores – medium-sized shops found on the high street and by railway stations – to shift stock more quickly to the shelves and cut the time it is held in the storeroom.

Tesco said the Metro stores had originally been intended for customers making a weekly shop but, as consumer habits changed, they now served those buying food daily, changing the logistics required.

In a challenging, evolving retail environment, with increasing cost pressures, we have to continue to review the way we run our stores

A spokeswoman for the company said Tesco Ireland, which has 152 stores in the Republic, are not affected by the restructuring.

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Under pressure

The UK market leader has largely outperformed its three biggest rivals – Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – in the last year. But it has remained under pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl, which continue to take market share from all grocery retailers.

"In a challenging, evolving retail environment, with increasing cost pressures, we have to continue to review the way we run our stores to ensure we reflect the way our customers are shopping and do so in the most efficient way," Tesco UK boss Jason Tarry said.

Employing around 340,000 in Britain and Ireland, Tesco cut thousands of jobs earlier this year when it removed fresh meat, fish and delicatessen counters from its bigger stores.

– Additional reporting: Reuters