Morrisons to create 1,000 jobs for the vulnerable

Supermarket group Morrisons today announced plans to create 1,000 jobs for homeless and vulnerable people in the next three years.

The UK's fourth largest food retailer aims to offer 10 per cent of the jobs it creates at its new stores to vulnerable people.

The Bradford-based group, which is running the initiative in partnership with the Salvation Army and social enterprise Create, said it was in a period of growth and wanted to recruit new staff from all sections of the community.

It added that it believed that by investing in people who needed a "hand-up", it would gain loyal and hard-working employees.

Norman Pickavance, group HR director for Morrisons, said: "We have a strong record of helping people to progress from the shop floor to the top floor of our business.

"This initiative will help disadvantaged people to get their lives back on track. We would encourage other British businesses to join us on this initiative."

The plans were announced as Morrisons posted a 14 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to 410 million in the six months to 1 August.