Morrisons to move to sole provider for property repairs
The Morrisons supermarket chain is planning to ditch 83 maintenance suppliers as it looks to move to a sole provider for property repairs.
According to The Guardian, suppliers have been warned that their contracts are likely to come to an end in July. It also said that up to 50 staff dealing with maintenance from the retailer’s head office in Bradford and elsewhere in the country could be laid off.
It is thought that some Morrisons staff will be transferred to the new supplier, Glasgow based City Facilities Management, which has offices around the UK. Furthermore some existing suppliers could become sub-contractors.
Morrisons told the newspaper it expects there to be 120 job losses overall, although The Guardian reported that suppliers had said they had been given no guarantees and believe that “many more” could go.
Many of the suppliers are based in the retailer’s home town of Bradford and provide services such as cleaning, gardening, electrical work and roof maintenance.
A Morrisons spokesperson told the newspaper: “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 those affected.”
