Tesco has revealed that it will be closing its Chelmsford Homeplus store in March.

The store, in Parkway near the Army and Navy roundabout, is one of 43 "unprofitable" stores that are planned to close.

The store currently employs 78 people and while the company hopes to be able to offer alternative roles in Tesco, redundancies are possible.

Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis said: “In January I announced that our performance as a business has fallen significantly short of where we would want it to be and that to protect the future of the business in the UK we would close 43 unprofitable stores.

"It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that our Chelmsford Homeplus store is one of the 43 we plan to close.

"The decision to close the store has been exceptionally difficult to take.

"I recognise it will affect many hard working colleagues, our customers and the local community.

"Our priority is to explain what this announcement means for our colleagues and wherever possible, offer them alternative roles with Tesco.

"I would like to thank all our customers who have shopped in our store.

"We will continue to do our best to serve them through our local stores in Chelmsford and Brentwood and our dotcom service.”

 

Tim Froggett, a brand expert at Anglia Ruskin University’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School, has spoken out about the up-coming closure. 

He said: "Tesco, like all stock market-listed retailers, has to deliver year-on-year growth to shareholders.

"Under former CEO Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco delivered this through a combination of growth strategies which involved both internationalisation and diversification.

“Diversification took Tesco away from its core grocery business into areas such as banking, tyres, garden centres, clothing and home furnishings.

"The more you diversify the less you focus on the core business and it is the changing competitive situation in its domestic core business that has brought about the well documented shift in Tesco’s fortunes.

"To put it simply, Tesco took its eye off the ball.

“Now under new CEO Dave Lewis, drastic measures are called for.  

"Mr Lewis is not known as “Drastic Dave” for nothing.

"He has to deliver on the plan he announced to the market in early January.

"From January 2014 to January 2015, Tesco shares fell from £3.50 to £1.80 but immediately rose 14% on announcement of the recovery plan.

“This plan involves a number of measures.

"The widest reaching is the closure of the final salary pension scheme which is £4 billion in deficit.

"Then there’s the need to cut £250 million out of running costs and there’s fighting the price competition battle against the single price retailers and the discounters.  

"All of this means one thing.  

"If the store is loss-making, it will close.  

"It’s that simple.

“Most of the closures are of convenience stores, but homewares is also a massively competitive sector where again discounters like B&M are having a massive impact.

"If it drains the resources of the business we can’t support it, is the new mantra and that’s likely to be what lies behind the closure of the Chelmsford homewares store.”