In an effort to cut operating costs, Tesco is looking reduce staff numbers by a further 9,000, that overall will equate to near 3% of their total workforce of close to 300,000 staff.

The numbers are expected to come from the bakery, staff canteens, fresh meat and fish counters in the branch networks, with management in Head Office also being pruned. It is hoped that these measures will take around £1.5 billion off their cost base, in the fight to maintain market share of the consumer purse in volatile trading conditions.

They have created a brand called Jack's named after Jack Cohen, the Tesco founder back in 1919, to test the discount waters, opening for business in September 2018. Jack's is a discount supermarket chain with a narrow product line that runs along the lines of Aldi and Lidl, the opposition coming from Germany as far as discounting goes. However, its early days as to whether the brand is a little late to the party and whether any Tesco branches are destined for a brand change, more akin to the founder's aims a hundred years ago and it will be some time before the branch numbers are able to add meaningful profit to the bottom line.