Tesco confirms 9,000 staff hit by changes to stores, head office

The grocery giant's said that roughly 90 stores will close their seafood and delicatessen counters, with its 700 shops trading with either a full or "flexible" counter. Contrary to reports about the changes over the weekend, no bakeries will be affected, the company said.

Customers are using counters less frequently as shopping habits change in recent years and households allocate less time to shopping, Tesco said, which has resulted in growth in the group's convenience and online businesses.

Other changes Tesco announced included a simplification of its stock control system and to the amount of time that products are moved around the store under the "merchandising" process, plus some changes to staff eating facilities.

Furthermore, various head office team are being made "simpler and leaner".

While 9,000 staff are expected to be effected in aggregate by the changes, the FTSE 100 group said it expects "up to half" of this number "could be redeployed to other customer-facing roles".