Morrisons has said it will close several of its services as part of a renewal programme to accelerate growth, optimise operations and offset significant cost increases.

Under the plans, Morrisons said it will close all of its 52 cafes, all of its 18 market kitchens, 17 convenience stores, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies.

The supermarket said that while the “significant majority” of employees affected by the changes will be deployed in suitable roles elsewhere in the company, there will still be around 365 workers at risk of redundancy.

Commenting on the news Rami Baitiéh, chief executive of Morrisons, said that while cafes have their place in the community, some have specific local challenges and the closure and reallocation of the space is “the only sensible option.”

Where some services are closing, Morrisons will work with third parties to provide a relevant alternative.

“The changes we are announcing today are a necessary part of our plans to renew and reinvigorate Morrisons and enable us to focus our investment into the areas that customers really value and that can play a full part in our growth,” Baitiéh added. “Although these changes are relatively small in the context of the overall scale of the Morrisons business, we do not take lightly the disruption and uncertainty they will cause to some of our colleagues.

“Market Street is a beacon of differentiation for Morrisons and we remain committed to it. But as we modernise we are making some necessary changes to the areas of the model which are simply uneconomic.”

The move comes as the grocer attempts to reposition itself following a decline in market share that saw the company lose its position as the fourth largest supermarket to Aldi back in 2022.

It ambitions were put under pressure when the supermarket experienced a technical outage just before Christmas last year which impacted More Card discounts, home delivery and Click & Collect orders.

The incident came at a particularly unwelcome time for Morrisons, which less than a month before was impacted by a ransomware attack against its third-party supply chain partner Blue Yonder.

As the online grocery market becomes increasingly competitive, the delays and cancelled deliveries were particularly troublesome for the retailer, and desperate shoppers turned to competitors.

Iceland, for example, claimed that the Morrisons outage led to a surge in last-minute shopping with Turkey sales increasing by 200 per cent as a direct result.

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