Morrisons plans to ditch at least 80 maintenance suppliers, many in its Bradford home

theguardian.com:

Morrisons is planning to ditch at least 83 property maintenance suppliers, many based in its home city of Bradford, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk as it shifts to a single provider for repairs.

The debt-laden supermarket chain, which is battling to save costs after a takeover in October 2021 by the Americanprivate equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice, is also likely to lay off up to 50 staff dealing with property maintenance at its Bradford head office and around the country.

The suppliers, some of whom have dealt with Morrisons for decades and were taken on by the chain’s co-founder Sir Ken Morrison, said they had been warned their contracts were likely to cease in July. They said more than 200 providers, including subcontractors, were likely to be affected and more than 100 head office staff, although this was disputed by Morrisons.

Several suppliers expressed anger that such long relationships had been apparently ended in a short video call in which they had not been able to ask questions.

Some Morrisons staff will be transferred to the new sole provider, City Facilities Management, which is based in Glasgow but has offices around the UK, while some existing suppliers may become subcontractors. Morrisons said it expected just 120 job losses overall; however, suppliers said they had been given no guarantees and believe that many more could go.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We are proposing some important changes and improvements to our maintenance model through a new national partnership with City FM but we anticipate many of our existing suppliers to continue to work for Morrisons under subcontracting arrangements. We are endeavouring to communicate and execute these changes carefully and thoughtfully with all