WM Morrisons - An Inconvenient Truth

It's all over for WM Morrisons' attempt to succeed in the UK convenience store market.

Morrisons have sold their loss-making portfolio of 140 stores to a venture-capital funded management buy-in led by retail entrepreneur Mike Greene.

The shops will be rebranded as "My Local" with 2,300 staff retained by the new owners.

Morrisons' decision is part of its strategy of refocusing the business on the core grocery supermarket segment - where it has also struggled against stiff competition from discount retailers Aldi and Lidl.

The firm's new CEO David Potts (ex Tesco) took over in early 2015. Potts' first strategic decision was to close 23 under-performing stores and to call an immediate halt to any further convenience store openings.