Somerfield Staff

I asked some staff at Somerfield what they thought was in store (ooops, pun) when Tesco opens at the end of the month. They all smiled. One said, “We’re all hoping it will be OK. We do hope so.”

Another was equally non-committal. “I don’t really know. We’ll have to wait and see”.

A third commented, "A number of staff have already left to join Tesco. That was inevitable, really. We don’t know what will happen but we hope it will be OK".

These are somewhat pessimistic responses, perhaps cautious even, without giving away their fears. I guess that the possibility of redundancy is at the backs of their minds. Not a pleasant thought.

Said a former employee on a separate occasion, “They won’t be very busy that week. That’s what happened when Lo-Cost [now Co-op] opened [when Somerfield was KwikSave]. It went very quiet for a while as everyone was shopping there but then it picked up again.”

Another former KwikSave employee was looking forward to Tesco's arrival. "I can't wait", she said. Somerfield and Co-op are expensive and they haven't got the choice. I don't think either will survive."

We’ll see.