Morrisons has opened 71 new Morrisons Daily franchise shops so far in 2026, as the supermarket group reported its fifteenth consecutive quarter of sales growth. Third-quarter like-for-like sales rose 3.2%, and cumulative cost savings since 2022 are nearing £1 billion, chief executive Rami Baitiéh said on 16 September 2026.
The update, covering the third quarter of Morrisons’ financial year, is the latest sign of the turnaround under Rami Baitiéh, who took over as chief executive in 2023. The group’s convenience arm, which includes Morrisons Daily, Morrisons Pharmacy and its Myton manufacturing sites, is reported as growing well.
Morrisons Daily is Morrisons’ franchised convenience fascia, run by independent operators under a model kept separate from the group’s company-owned supermarkets. The 71 shops opened this year add to an estate that has grown steadily since the fascia launched, as forecourt operators and independent retailers convert existing sites, a conversion route rather than the standing start most of the food and drink franchises recruiting in the UK recruit for.
What the trading update showed
Morrisons said total sales for the third quarter reached £4.1 billion, its strongest quarter since the second quarter of 2025. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel rose 3.2%, continuing what the company describes as its fifteenth straight quarter of growth.
Cost savings delivered in the quarter came to £53 million, taking cumulative savings since 2022 to £995 million, just short of the £1 billion mark the company has been working towards. Net debt has fallen by 46% over the same period. Baitiéh pointed to favourable trading conditions, including warm weather and interest around the men’s football World Cup, alongside the group’s Unbeatables pricing campaign on everyday items.
How the Morrisons Daily franchise model works
Morrisons Daily is one of the genuine franchises inside the Morrisons group, distinct from the company’s own supermarkets, which remain company-owned. Morrisons Daily’s own franchise pages set out three entry routes: converting an existing shop, repurposing another type of property such as a former pub, or building a new site.
The stated minimum is 1,200 sq ft for a neighbourhood shop or 1,000 sq ft for a forecourt shop, with a typical catchment of around 2,000 households and an expected weekly turnover of about £25,000. Onboarding is described as taking around 13 weeks, and the franchisee buys stock at wholesale prices and sells at retail.
Good to know
Morrisons Daily is a franchise; Morrisons’ own supermarkets are not. The entry route normally requires the applicant to already hold or be converting a suitable property, rather than starting from an empty plot with no site in hand.
Why the franchise arm matters to the wider group
Morrisons has been rebuilding its convenience presence largely through franchised sites rather than opening more of its own supermarkets, a route that lets independent retailers and forecourt operators bring existing premises into the fascia without Morrisons carrying the property risk.
Baitiéh’s update grouped convenience alongside pharmacy and the group’s Myton manufacturing arm as businesses reporting good growth, without breaking out convenience on its own. The wider turnaround has also relied on cost discipline: £995 million in cumulative savings since 2022 and a 46% reduction in net debt over the same period, alongside the pricing campaign the group has run on everyday goods.
What comes next for the franchise estate
Morrisons has not published a target for how many more Morrisons Daily shops it expects to add before the end of its financial year, and the group’s own franchise pages note that each application goes through operational assessment, including a review of the site and its finances, before onboarding begins, a two-way process set out in an in-depth guide to franchising in the United Kingdom.
The next scheduled update from Morrisons, along with any further detail on the convenience arm’s contribution, would be expected alongside the group’s full-year reporting. Independent retailers and forecourt operators weighing a Morrisons Daily conversion can check current site and turnover requirements directly on the fascia’s own franchise pages, which the company updates periodically, and compare them against the other brands in the UK franchise directory.
