Tesco (TSCO.L) is the latest UK supermarket to announce job cuts, which it said were part of plans to “simplify” its business.

Britain’s largest supermarket said it planned to axe 400 roles, blaming a grocery market that was “more competitive than ever”.

Tesco said it had started talking to staff about the proposed changes across its stores and head office, including to its bakery model in some stores, as well as to its management structure in Tesco Mobile phone shops.

Separately, Tesco said it will begin a consultation in the coming days around the closure of its Snodland distribution centre, following its previously announced investment in a new distribution centre in Aylesford. The supermarket said all employees at the Snodland centre would be offered a role at the new site.

Matthew Barnes, CEO of Tesco UK, said: “These are difficult decisions affecting our colleagues, but we believe they are necessary to enable us to invest in what matters most to our customers.

“Our priority is to support impacted colleagues, and we will do everything we can to help them find alternative roles within our business. Today, we have almost 1,000 vacancies available.”

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The job cuts come despite Tesco recently reporting its “biggest ever Christmas”. The supermarket posted 2.8% growth in like-for-like sales over the third quarter and an increase of 3.8% over the Christmas period.

However, shares dipped after the release of this recent trading statement in early January, as sentiment in the retail sector has been downbeat. A number of UK firms have been warning of the impact of higher costs on the back of an increase in the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions, announced in the autumn budget.

Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) announced last week that it expected to cut 3,000 roles, which included a 20% reduction in senior management roles.

Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s, said the company was facing a “particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.”

Morrisons also announced plans last week to cut more than 200 roles across its retail people team, according to multiple reports.

Rami Baitieh, CEO of Morrisons, told The Sun in December that the change to national insurance announced in the budget “adds insult to injury. The problem is that it’s an avalanche of costs that is coming all at once.”

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