Grocery Market: UK Supermarket and Convenience in 2025

2025 very much built on 2024 in terms of convenience led growth.

Significant closures, retailers readjusting their store models, made for an interesting strategic period for many in the supermarket sector.

Aldi

The UK's 4th largest supermarket continued to grow at an impressive pace in 2025, surpassing 1,050 stores; 38 new stores, up from 29 last year.

5 of these are located in London, as part of Aldi’s London Expansion plans, which saw a £55 million investment within the m25. This has seen the opening of stores in areas like Fulham Broadway, Wimbledon and Orpington.

Of 8 Stores closed, presence has been maintained in 7 towns, which are Westerhope, Diss, Daventry, Little Bowden, Pen-y-fan, Hilton and Keighley.

Amazon Fresh

In 2025, Amazon closed all 20 of its stores, 19 of which were in London, only five years since it launched the till free sites, the other location was in Sevenoaks. Five of the stores have been earmarked to be converted into Wholefoods stores, which Amazon also owns.

Asda

2025 saw slower growth for Asda after welcoming 262 new Asda Expresses in 2024. 17 new stores, all Asda Express, with only 1 closing.

Asda has just opened its 500th Express store as it kickstarts 2026 with two new openings in Bradford and Salford.

They resumed their express convenience store opening programme in October, and expect to add up to 20 new stores. They are focusing on high-footfall urban areas, residential locations, and transport hubs – sites where the retailer has traditionally had limited presence. This year looks to have consolidated the integration of convenience and fuel sites acquired from EG group and Co-op, highlighted by only 1 store closing. Whilst this happens, Asda are looking towards the future and  making a return to standalone Express stores.

Booths

Known fondly as the ‘Waitrose of the North', Booths recorded the closure of one store in Marshall Way, Ripton, citing high operating costs and a lack of profitability.

Booths now have 26 stores, including the wine bar gallery in Lytham, with 15 in Lancastershire, 7 in Cumbria, 2 in Yorkshire and 1 in Knutsford.

A small decline from when it announced its 30th store opening in 2014, at Barrowford, Lancashire.

Budgens

Through the opening of 35 new stores, Symbol group Budgens have taken their UK total to 417, with the majority in England, 4 in Scotland, and 2 in Wales. This was offset by the closing of 15 stores. 2025 saw the Budgens enter coastal areas for the first time, in areas like Trimley St Martin, Seaton and Mablethorpe.

The Co-operative Group

Co-op continued to see high turnover of stores, closing 88 and opening 46. The beginning of 2025 marked Co-ops commitment to convenience growth with a commitment to the opening of 75 new stores, and 80 planned major refurbishments. They continue to look for freehold and leasehold opportunities to maintain momentum. 2025 saw the opening and closing of 3 stores.

The different Co-operative Societies across the UK have undertaken strategic decisions that has involved the opening and closing of stores to satisfy their portfolios

COOK

COOK offers a wide range of premium, hand-prepared frozen meals, starters, and puddings designed to be cooked straight from the freezer.

Cook saw a 9.4% growth in their number of stores, adding 11 in 2025 to take the total to 128. The brand continues to experience impressive growth

COOK displays regional variety, with 96 stores currently concentrated in the South. 2025 saw the addition of stores in Hoole, Morpeth and Clerminston, showing a growing presence in the North of England and Scotland.

Farmfoods

Farmfoods is a Scottish frozen food and grocery supermarket chain based in Cumbernauld, Scotland. 2025 saw it surpass 370 UK stores, more than 100 of which are located in scotland

2025 saw a slowdown in new store openings, with 13 openings and 20 closures. 10 of the 13 openings were in England, with a new site in the popular Sweet Briar Retail Park in Hallesden, Norwich.

Heron Foods

Bought by B&M in 2017, Heron Foods has 319 Stores across England and Wales, adding 12 new stores in 2025. It targets high footfall towns and city centres, as well as parades, and aims to open up to 30 new stores each year. 3 of the 4 store closures this year were relocations to nearby units; Amble, Guisborough and Central Leigh.

Iceland

Iceland opened 15 new stores in 2025, 13 of which came under The Food Warehouse in retail parks. The 17 closures all came under the Iceland fascia; 9 Town centres, 3 urban centres, 1 retail park, 1 shopping centre, 1 city centre.

Lidl

Lidl continues to be one of the fastest growing stores in the UK, adding 41 in 2025. February saw the opening of 9 stores, including brand-new locations in Canning Town, Preston, Walsall, and Wimbourne.

Late April saw Lidl announce plans to invest half a billion pounds in its expansion. As part of its continued mission to provide all communities across the country with access to affordable, high-quality food, it aims to open 40 new stores in the new financial year.

Makro

Makro, a Cash & Carry retailer, began its operations in the UK in 1971 and has 26 locations across the UK. In 2012 it was acquired by Booker from German based company Metro. There have been no recent Makro store openings or closings in the UK.

Marks & Spencer

M&S is actively searching for ways to expand and modernise its estate. In the Summer of 2025, M&S announced its acquisition of 12 Homebase sites which are set to become some of the largest M&S standalone Food stores in the UK – the first of which is set to open before Christmas in Cannock.

Marks & Spencer is executing a long-term "store rotation" strategy designed to shift its portfolio from 247 older, town-center full-line stores to a more productive estate of 180 higher-quality, larger, and digitally enabled "full-line" stores by April 2028. They demonstrated their commitment to this in 2025, with 14 openings and 16 closings.

Morrisons

2025 saw Morrisons open 109 stores, all under the Morrisons Daily fascia, taking that total to 1,331 from 1,221. It means the Daily stores continue to grow at an impressive rate, and it shows no sign of stopping, with Morrisons announcing in October plans to expand its convenience store network by partnering with independent corner shop owners across England. Up to 250 local stores are expected to be converted into branded “Morrisons Daily” outlets, with a focus on the South of England and the Midlands.

28 stores closed this year, which were again all Morrisons convenience. Last year saw the closure of the only Morrisons Home, but it now marks 2 years since the closure of any of its full range stores.

A combination of Morrisons, Morrisons Select and Morrisons Daily takes the brand to 1,833 locations. Whilst not meeting the target of hitting 2,000 stores by 2025, the future looks exciting for Morrisons and their growth plans.

Planet Organic

Planet Organic is the UK’s first and largest fully certified organic supermarket chain, founded in 1995 to promote sustainable living. While there were no store openings or closures in 2025, the company opened a new store in late 2024 on 108 Westbourne Grove, replacing its flagship store at 42 Westbourne Grove after nearly 30 years since its opening.

Sainsburys

2025 saw an accelerated roll out, adding 47 stores from 25 last year. This includes 14 stores acquired from East of England Co-op and Homebase.

The Sainsbury's at Kiln Lane, Epsom, has undergone a major transformation, emerging as a flagship store with a focus on value, modern, minimalist, and energy-efficient designs. This is part of Sainsbury's “next level” strategy to increase space and technology, and offers a glimpse into what their future may look like.

2025 also saw 5 closures, 60% of which were in London. This takes the total number of stores across Sainsburys and its local fascia to 1,485, closing in on the 1,500 mark.

Spar

Spar is a symbol group, where retailers remain independent whilst enjoying the global brand benefits on offer. 2025 saw 184 store openings, 114 of which were Petrol Filling stations. Accounting for the 69 closures, this takes the total store count to 2,484, a total anticipated to rise well above 2,500 in the coming year.

Tesco

Tesco saw lots of turnover in its convenience fascia, Tesco Express, which saw 65 openings and 20 closures. 3 superstores were added, in Harrogate, Halstead and Ripon.

2024 was the 30 year anniversary of the first convenience store opening in Barnes and Norbury in 1994. That year, Tesco set out a target of adding 150 Express stores over the next 3 years, which they exceeded in the first annum. This takes the number of convenience stores to 1,949.

Waitrose

2025 built in 2024, and saw continued store openings for Waitrose. All 6 store openings were part of its convenience fascia, with 3 Little Waitrose across Wandsworth, Balderton and Brinsworth.

Partnerships with Welcome Break also played a role, with new motorway service area (MSA) stores opening in Newark and Hickling Services, aswell as one at Rotherham Services Welcome Break completed very early into 2025.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market opened its 6th store in Chelsea in March of 2025. After the closure of its stores at Griffnock, Glasgow and Helsters way, Cheltenham, their portfolio is now entirely in urban centres across London.

With the closure of all Amazon Fresh stores in 2025, Amazon is turning its focus solely to Whole Foods Market, and will be looking to expand its footprint in the coming years.

Summary of 2025

• A year of convenience led to growth.
• Strategic closures to enable focus on development of that convenience fascia- makes it an interesting, competitive market.
• Many retailers have big aspirations for future growth, very exciting to see what 2026 has in store for the battle for space in convenience fascia.

Guest Author: Ed Purple

Photo by Scott Evans on Unsplash