Labour and Lib Dem MP’s call for assurances from new Morrisons owners

The supermarket chain has over half a dozen stores in Birmingham
Shoppers outside the front of a Morrisons store in Hatch End, London.Shoppers outside the front of a Morrisons store in Hatch End, London.
Shoppers outside the front of a Morrisons store in Hatch End, London.

Labour and Liberal Democrat MP’s have urged the new owners of supermarket chain Morrisons, which has eight stores in Birmingham, to reassure staff for job security.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, an American private equity company, won an auction for Morrisons over the weekend with a £7 billion bid.

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In the wake of this, opposing MP’s have called on the owners to safeguard the company, which was founded in Bradford in 1899.

Seema Malhotra, Labour MP and shadow minister for business and consumers, said: “Morrisons is a much-loved British firm which has been rooted in communities up and down the country for over 100 years.

“The new owners must urgently deliver binding assurances for workers, pension fund holders and local people.”

“We cannot see a repetition of previous cases where businesses have been loaded with debt and asset-stripped. Morrisons is a great British company, which must be safeguarded for the future.”

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Sarah Olney, Lib Dem MP and the party’s spokesperson for business, said: “It would be a great shame to see local teams lose their stake in the future direction of the business.

“With uncertain economic times ahead, the new owners must pass the key tests of not loading the business with debt, not cutting jobs, and critically, protecting existing working conditions.”

A spokesperson for CD&R said: CD&R values Morrisons’ distinctive business model and is committed to supporting it, including the successful ESG [environmental, social, and governance] and broader stakeholder engagement strategies of the company that are essential to its continued success.”

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