Shell will transfer 14 Little Waitrose petrol station sites to other retailers, in a move that will impact 227 members of staff, Grocery Gazette can reveal.

Management informed staff of the change today (1 August), which comes as the operating agreement for the sites has come to an end.

Under the changes, the sites will no longer be directly operated by Waitrose and the Partners impacted will TUPE over to the new retailers.

However, the John Lewis-owner supermarket will continue to supply a range of products to the sites as it does with 90 other Shell petrol stations across the country, which are operated by the petrol giant or other retailers.

The move will leave the grocer with just 11 petrol station sites that it directly operates, and therefore have the full Waitrose offer and branding.

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A Waitrose spokesperson told Grocery Gazette: “We’ve been informed by our landlord, Shell, that they plan to transfer 14 Little Waitrose petrol stations to other retailers now our operating agreement for these sites has come to an end. This means that our Partners working there will transfer to the new retailers under TUPE. We’re working hard to support our Partners with the transition.

“We’ll still provide a wide selection of Waitrose products to the new retailers, and our customers can continue to shop our full range of products from Waitrose.com and nearby Waitrose shops.”

A Shell spokesperson told Grocery Gazette: “14 sites owned by Shell and operated by Waitrose will transfer to independent retailers as the operating agreement has come to an end. The 14 locations will continue to stock and sell Waitrose branded products as part of the larger Shell and Waitrose partnership.”

The news comes despite previous plans to ramp up the partnership’s offering. In 2021, the pair unveiled plans to provide the upmarket retailer’s products to another 68 Shell stores, which would take the total number of to at least 125 by 2025.