Petition launched to save Morrisons supermarket from closure in Shirley

A supermarket giant has been urged to rethink plans to close its store in Shirley, which have put scores of jobs on the line.

The Morrisons store, on Stratford Road, is one of four around the country set to shut, with 96 roles at risk.

Shirley East councillors Karen Grinsell, Mark Parker and Annette Mackenzie (Con) have already launched a petition urging the company to keep the branch open. https://www.change.org/p/morrisons-plc-save-morrison-s-in-shirley-from-closure

Cllr Parker said the business, which has been based in the town for 14 years, was a “focal point” for the community.

“I am disappointed to learn Morrisons in Shirley is earmarked for closure,” he said.

“Morrisons is a very popular store and is an important retailer to the Shirley town centre economy.

“As such a fight will begin now and we have launched an online petition to persuade Morrisons Plc to keep its doors open for business in Shirley.”

He urged as many residents as possible to put their names to the campaign and also write to the supermarket’s head office in Bradford.

The news is a further blow to the shopping area, where plans to set up a Business Improvement District (BID) fell through last year.

Amid calls for more support for Shirley High Street, the council had announced last month that proposals to increase car parking charges – due to be introduced in September – had been dropped.

The grocer revealed its plans last week, following a review of its 494 stores nationwide.

The company, which is one of the UK’s “big four” supermarkets, has faced increased competition from both online retailers and discount chains such as Aldi.

A Morrisons spokesman said: “We will now be going through a consultation process at the stores and discussing how to reduce redundancies and where possible redeploy colleagues.”

Read more: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/petition-launched-save-morrisons-supermarket-16805801