Morrisons is getting ready to close its Rathbones bakery, putting 400 staff members at risk of redundancy.

The move comes after the supermarket giant explored all options for the facility, The Grocer reported, with speculation around a potential purchase of the Wakefield factory by Hovis having circulated this year. However, the two companies did not reach an agreement.

A Morrisons spokesman told the title it had carried out a “thorough review” during the past few months over the options for the future of the bakery, but said that after a period of growth and investment, “the business has been lossmaking for a number of years”.

“Although we have tried several routes to return the business to profitability, none have been successful. This has led us to consider the possibility of closing the site,” they added.

On those at risk of redundancy, the spokesperson said “we will do everything we can to help those colleagues affected, including investigating whether there are any other suitable roles elsewhere in the group.”

The retailer is currently in discussion with 378 of the bakery’s staff members.

The spokesman confirmed that Morrisons’ 450 in-store Market Street bakeries were unaffected by the plans and would continue to serve customers.

Though the supermarket is still investigating a way to maintain a smaller, specialised bakery to continue producing goods aside from traditional sliced bread, The Grocer understands.

The spokesman added: “We are considering all alternative options, and want to work with our partner union BFAWU, together with employee representatives, on how we could change our current business model and safeguard as many jobs as possible.”

It comes after Rathbones slumped to a pre-tax loss of £3.7m for the year to 20 October 2023.

Morrisons snapped up Rathbones back in 2005 after the bakery fell into administration.

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