The grocery arm of John Lewis said it would be shutting its stores in Caldicot, Ipswich Corn Exchange and Shrewsbury on December 6 and had reached an agreement with Tesco for the sale of another store in Wolverhampton by the end of trade on December 31. 

The retailer said the closures would put 124 staff at risk of redundancy, while the 140 who work at the Wolverhampton store would become Tesco employees under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) legislation. 

Waitrose said all four areas would continue to be serviced by its online offer and the closures were part of the retailer’s ongoing review of its store estate, which began in 2017.