Somerfield deal costs 900 head office jobs

THE Co-operative Group’s £1.57bn acquisition of Somerfield has cost nearly 900 head office jobs at the Bristol-based retailer.

The Manchester-based Co-op has taken on 150 of the 1,022 staff. Some 613 have already left and a further 259 will have left their jobs by Christmas.

The Co-op always planned to close the building, ending Somerfield’s link to the city where it began as a family grocery more than 130 years ago.

Property agents were instructed last month to find new tenants for the building.

The acquisition created the fifth biggest supermarket group with 3,000 shops. Around 27,000 Somerfield store staff have been kept on.