Tesco announces major change to UK supermarkets after £235m blow

Supermarket chain is set to make a major change to some of its Express stores. The food giant will be closing its doors an hour earlier after unleashed a £235million tax raid, resulting in rising staff costs. It is now understood that Tesco Express will be closing at 10pm, rather than its usual 11pm. The supermarket is also expected to be operating some stores with a reduced number of staff.

A spokesman for the food giant said the changes are being trialled to "make things simpler" for the Tesco employees, also ensuring that the stores are being run "in the most efficient way". The move follows Ken Murphy, the company's chief executive officer, saying that Tesco is battling against Ms Reeve's Budget hit, resulting in the supermarket stripping back costs.

He said in April: "All we're saying as an industry is, don't make it too hard for us to keep delivering great value."

The Chancellor's October Budget took effect in April, resulting in employers paying increased National Insurance which equates to 15% of workers pay, up from 13.8%.

The threshold for which businesses start to pay the tax has also been drastically reduced from £9,100 to £5,000, meaning a larger number of smaller businesses will be required to pay the tax.

Union leaders have since raised concerns over Tesco Express' opening hour changes. Daniel Adams, Usdaw national officer, said the union "has not agreed this change and we will be monitoring the trials closely to assess the impact on our members".

"The union has repeatedly raised issues with the business around the risks of low staffing and retain significant concerns around how this trial will work," he said.

Staff at the company who may be affected by the change may be transferred to another store, it is understood.

A Teso spokesperson said: "Our Express format is a strong and growing business, providing great value and convenience for customers on their doorstep.

"In a small number of stores, we are trialling some tweaks to our operational routines to make things simpler for our colleagues and to ensure that we are running these shops in the most efficient way.

"These changes aren't visible to our customers, who will continue to receive the same great service they expect, and there are no changes to the range of products we sell."