Sainsbury’s has revealed plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs.

The supermarket said the move was a bid to save money ahead of a £140m leap in costs from budget tax measures, due to come into force within weeks.

Head office and senior management roles are among those affected, the chain said, adding that the cost-saving drive would also result in the closure of its remaining cafes, hot food, patisserie, and pizza counters.

All the proposals, Sainsbury’s added, were subject to consultation.

Chief executive Simon Roberts said: “We are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective.”

He made the announcement despite the company’s decision, a fortnight ago, to award inflation-busting pay rises to store workers across the business, which also includes Argos.

Mr Roberts is among business leaders to have publicly spoken out after October’s budget put firms on the hook for the bulk of £40bn in tax increases.

He warned then that additional costs would result in higher prices for customers as the chain did not have the “capacity to absorb” a “barrage of costs”.

Sainsbury’s, he explained, was facing an additional annual bill of £140m from April to cover the cost of additional employer national insurance contributions alone.

Industry bodies have widely spoken of how higher costs will choke investment and jobs.

Cafes are due to shut at the following locations:

Fosse Park, Leicestershire

Pontypridd, South Wales

Rustington, West Sussex

Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Penzance, Cornwall

Denton, Greater Manchester

Wrexham, North Wales

Longwater, Norwich, Norfolk

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Pontllanfraith, South Wales

Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire

Nantwich, Cheshire

Pinhoe Road, Exeter, Devon

Pepper Hill – Northfleet, Kent

Marshall Lake, Solihull, West Midlands

Rhyl, North Wales

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Bridgemead, Swindon, Wiltshire

Larkfield, Aylesford, Kent

Whitchurch Bargates, Shropshire

Sedlescombe Road, Hastings, East Sussex

Barnstaple, Devon

Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

Kings Lynn Hardwick, Norfolk

Truro, Cornwall

Warren Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk

Godalming, Surrey

Hereford, Herefordshire

Chichester, West Sussex

Bognor Regis, West Sussex

Newport, South Wales

Talbot Heath, Dorset

Rugby, Warwickshire

Cannock, Staffordshire

Leek, Staffordshire

Winterstoke Road, Bristol

Hazel Grove, Stockport, Greater Manchester

Morecambe, Lancashire

Darlington, County Durham

Monks Cross, Huntington, North Yorkshire

Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon

Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex

Durham, County Durham

Bamber Bridge, Lancashire

Weedon Road, Northampton, East Midlands

Hempstead Valley, Kent

Hedge End, Hampshire

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Thanet Westwood Cross, Kent

Stanway, Colchester, Essex

Castle Point, Essex

Isle of Wight

Keighley, West Yorkshire

Swadlincote, Derbyshire

Leicester North, East Midlands

Wakefield Marsh Way, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

Torquay, Devon

Waterlooville, Hampshire

Macclesfield, Cheshire

Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Cheadle, Greater Manchester

Part-owners of Chelsea and Manchester United football clubs are among a quartet of finalists vying to buy a big stake in London Spirit, the most prestigious franchise in English cricket’s Hundred competition.

Sky News has learnt that a vehicle controlled by Todd Boehly, a shareholder in Chelsea, and members of the Manchester United-owning Glazer family have been shortlisted to acquire 49% of the Lords-based team from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The other two shortlisted bidders are a consortium of technology company owners and financiers which includes the bosses of Google and Microsoft; and RPSG Group, the owner of the Indian Premier League team Lucknow Super Giants.

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People close to the process said on Thursday that the four bidders would be asked to submit sealed bids for the ECB stake next week, with the highest bidder expected to be chosen by the ECB.

The London Spirit franchise is expected to be valued at about £140m, meaning the proceeds to be received and distributed by the ECB would be approximately £70m, the insiders added.

The identities of the shortlisted parties means that India’s Ambani family, owner of the Mumbai Indians IPL team, is not in the running to buy the Lords-based outfit.

Instead, the Mumbai Indians’ owners are pursuing bids for the Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals teams, according to insiders.

Shortlists for some of the eight Hundred franchises are said to number fewer than four bidders, although the process has been complicated by the presence of some parties in several processes.

The Lucknow Super Giants owners, for example, are said to have been in pursuit of four of the eight teams.

In total, the ECB has indicated that it could receive in the region of £350m for its 49% stakes in the eight teams.

The host counties are also allowed to sell their 51% shareholdings, although some have said they do not intend to do so.

The MCC, which controls the London Spirit franchise, does not intend to offload any of its stake at this point, according to cricket insiders.

Sky News revealed earlier this month that the consortium of tech company chiefs was also bidding for the Oval Invincibles, with them also expected to be shortlisted in that process.

CVC Capital Partners, the buyout firm which has made a swathe of sports investments, has also tabled an offer for the Oval-based team.

Investors will only be allowed to own a stake in one of the eight teams, which also include Welsh Fire, Southern Brave and the Northern Superchargers.

A bigger-than-expected windfall from the process could offer a financial lifeline to a number of cash-strapped counties, with part of the proceeds likely to be used to pay down debt.

Concerns have been raised, however, that windfalls from the Hundred auction will not deliver a meaningful improvement in counties’ long-term financial sustainability.

The outcome of the Hundred auction is also likely to intensify other searching questions about the future of cricket, as the Test format of the game struggles for international commercial relevance against shorter-length competition.

The Hundred auction is being handled by bankers at Raine Group, the same firm which oversaw the sale of large stakes in both Manchester United and Chelsea in recent years.

An MCC spokesman declined to comment, while none of the bidders contacted by Sky News would comment.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated she will overrule environmental objections to a third runway at Heathrow in order to prioritise economic growth, a position likely to bring her into conflict with colleagues including energy secretary Ed Miliband.

Speaking as she began a 48-hour pitch to international investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ms Reeves said she would back infrastructure projects even where they are unpopular.

The expansion of Heathrow has been debated for almost 20 years but despite the consistent support of business groups and a consensus it would boost economic activity, environmental and political objections have prevented it.

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Asked directly if she would now put the runway, along with expansion at Gatwick and Luton ahead of the UK’s net zero commitments, Ms Reeves said: “I’m not going to comment on speculation, but what I would say is when the last government faced difficult decisions about whether to support infrastructure investment, the answer always seemed to be no.

“We can’t carry on like that, because if we do, we will miss out on crucial investment here into Britain. You’ve already seen a number of decisions, including on Stansted and City Airport, on energy projects, on transport infrastructure, because we are determined to grow the economy.”

The chancellor’s trip to Davos comes with her economic program under increased scrutiny after a bumpy start to the new year, including a rise in borrowing costs and data showing the economy has stagnated since the election.

Business groups have also questioned the increase in employment costs in the budget, but Ms Reeves insisted the UK is competitive internationally, and has a strong case to make to international markets.

“If you look at the UK’s taxation compared with countries around the world, we remain highly competitive, we have the lowest corporation tax in the G7. Amongst European countries, we have some of the lowest employment taxes, So Britain is an attractive place to invest.”

Read more:
Politics may stand in the way of economics when it comes to airport expansion

Ms Reeves also hailed the removal of the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, a regulator regularly blamed for unnecessarily slowing down deals, as a sign she was serious about growth.

“We’ve got huge strengths as a country and this government is reforming the planning system, reforming the regulation system, making it easier for businesses to get things done, all with the purpose of making working people better off,” she said.

UK not a target

The chancellor said she did not think the UK would be a target for tariffs threatened by president Donald Trump, largely because Britain has a trade deficit with America, and that she planned to meet the incoming Treasury secretary once he is confirmed.

Growth trade offs thrown into stark relief

Paul Kelso

Business and economics correspondent

@pkelso

The saga of a third runway at Britain’s biggest airport encapsulates, perhaps better than any, the trade-offs required to prioritise growth.

Airport expansion is a proven vehicle for growth. Heathrow’s current investors are desperate to expand, despite the cost of complications.

But for a decade political opposition, from Boris Johnson to Sadiq Khan, has stood in the way.

Of course, there are sound environmental arguments against that a government committed to net zero by 2050 might consider, and Ed Miliband can be expected to make.

But if growth really is the priority then at some point they have to choose.

Given the multiple avenues for objection and the strength of feeling inside and outside cabinet, Ms Reeves’ position does not mean that a runway is now more likely than it was six months ago.

It may however be less unlikely, and as a short-term signal to the investors she is courting in Switzerland, that is a start.

“I believe in free and open trade, and I’ll be making that case to my counterparts in the United States. I’m excited about the opportunity to work with the new Trump administration.

“Trade between the UK and the US is worth £300bn a year, a million Brits work for American firms, a million Americans work for British firms, so our economies are closely intertwined, and I look forward to enhancing and strengthening that relationship.”

Privately some international investors and British company bosses in Davos have questioned the clarity of Ms Reeves’s message, but she has received public support from significant companies.

Bill Winters, the chief executive of bank Standard Chartered, told Sky News: “I think the chancellor is doing the right thing in terms of putting the sign out that the UK is open for business.

“She’s also made very clear statements about the fact that we’re going to reduce some of the red tape set back to regulation in a way that’s safe and sound. Exactly how that’s going to work through, we’ll see. So I’m encouraged, but obviously, she’s got a huge, huge challenge.”