1899

Wm Morrison opens an egg and butter stall.

Egg and butter merchant William Morrison begins his business in Rawson Market, Bradford.

1901

Census records Morrisons as a butter and egg merchant.

Morrisons continues to grow, maintaining its market stalls whilst expanding the number of shops and the range of produce sold.

1952

Ken Morrison took over the company. 

Sir Ken Morrison, aged 21, took over the small group of Bradford market stalls from his father. Ken, combined with the dynamic support of his mother, takes the shop to new heights.

1961

Morrisons Victoria Supermarket opens.

The first supermarket opens in Bradford's Girlington district in a converted cinema, with free parking. It was opened in grand style by the Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix. Customers picked out goods themselves. Before this, a counter assistant ‘served’ the customer personally. The location still operates today.

1967

Morrisons becomes a public limited company.

Ongoing expansion led to Morrisons going public on the London Stock Exchange, more than 80,000 investors try to purchase shares.

1971

Morrisons opens its headquarters Hilmore House.

Due to the growing expansion of the business, the Hilmore House office, warehouse and factory complex, opens in Bradford, Thornton Road. It was named Hilmore House, after Ken's mother Hilda.

1980

Fresh food production begins.

Sir Ken opens Farmers Boy, a purpose-built fresh food factory.

1985

Morrisons introduces 'Market Street' into stores.

The introduction of the concept happened at the Killingworth store, Newcastle. It gave the supermarkets a 'market' feel, creating the illusion that each department eg. Butchers or Fishmongers had their own 'stall'. An updated version of this concept remains in stores to this day.

1991

Vertical supplier integration begins.

Woodheads, one of the best known names in the British meat industry, becomes one of Morrisons first vertically integrated suppliers.

2000

Sir Ken Morrison is knighted.

Ken Morrison is knighted for his services to the retail industry.

2004

Purchase of Safeway plc.

The first Safeway to be converted to Morrisons was in Gamston, Nottingham.

2008

Sir Ken Morrison steps down as chairman.

After 55 years of service Sir Ken Morrison retires and is honoured with an award for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Retail’.

2011

Morrisons Flowerworld opens.

Morrisons acquires Flowerworld in Derby, where trained florists make fresh flower bouquets which are sold throughout Morrisons stores.

2013

Morrisons launches Nutmeg.

Morrisons launches its own-label children’s clothing range, Nutmeg, making quality and affordable clothing available.

2014

Morrisons launches online food deliveries.

Morrisons launches its much-anticipated online food delivery service and begins a national roll-out starting with homes across the Midlands.

2015

Morrisons launches its first Morrisons Daily.

The first Morrisons Daily launched at a petrol station in Crewe.

2016

Morrisons partners with Amazon.

The partnership allows customers access to a wide range of Morrisons ambient, fresh and frozen products.

2016

Morrisons acquires seafood site.

The second seafood processing site opens to cope with growing demand for quality fresh and pre-packed seafood. Three times the size of Morrisons first site, it processes over 10,000 tonnes of salmon a year!

2016

Rathbones bakery fire.

After a fire broke out on one of the production lines at the Rathbones, an amazing turnaround meant that less than three days later, the first loaf of bread came off the production line. Seven days later it was business as usual with 2.5m loaves and rolls being delivered to stores each week.

2018

Morrisons acquires Chippindales.

Through Chippindale Foods, a leading supplier of free range eggs, Morrisons reached the target to sell 100% free range own brand eggs, five years ahead of plan.

2020

Morrisons removes all single-use plastic carrier bags.

Morrisons becomes the first UK supermarket to use the large US-style paper grocery bags that are a similar capacity to standard plastic carrier bags, are reusable, can be recycled, and are sourced responsibly.

2021

Morrisons acquired by CD&R.

Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) acquires Morrisons.

2021

Morrisons acquires Falfish.

Falfish, a family-owned wholesaler of sustainably sourced seafood based in Cornwall is acquired. The acquisition represents another significant investment in fresh food.

2022

Morrisons becomes the first supermarket to launch carbon neutral eggs.

Carbon neutral eggs are launched as part of the commitment to be directly supplied by ‘net zero emission’ British farms by 2030, five years ahead of the rest of the supermarket industry.

There has been a Morrisons store in Gibraltar since 1994. Equipped with its own fully licensed bar, customers can enjoy a refreshing drink after doing their shop in store.

Morrisons is the largest employer of craft apprentices in the UK, training hundreds of apprentices a year, many in traditional craft skills such as butchery, bakery and fishmongery.

Morrisons doughnuts are a cult favourite amongst customers. Last year, shoppers consumed over 69 million doughnuts from Morrisons bakeries, amounting to over four million kilograms of doughnuts – the same weight as 250 cars.

Morrisons has 18 of their own sites making meat, fruit & veg, fish, bakery and fresh food products and are unique in that they prepare and make more than half of the fresh food sold in stores.

Market Street Butchers

Ask our Butcher if you'd like any cooking tips. More pink on the inside, every time. More meat cut as thick or as thin as you like and even more recipes for you to try.

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Market Street Fishmongers

Our expert fishmongers will skin, de-bone and and fillet your fish for you. We'll give you free ice for your fish to keep it fresher for longer and all of our fish bags are microwavable and oven proof.

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Market Street Bakery

At Morrisons you'll find more bread freshly baked in store than any other supermarket. Head to our Market Street Baker's counter for 27 varieties of fresh bread, baked in store every day.

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