List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom
| Industry | Retail grocery |
|---|---|
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Products | Groceries, food retail |
As of November 2024, the UK grocery sector features 17 supermarket chains. The industry is primarily controlled by the so-called 'big four'—Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, and Morrisons—which together commanded more than 75% of the market in 2010. Leading the pack, Tesco held a 28.5% market share at the beginning of 2025.
Discount retailers Lidl and Aldi have experienced significant expansion, with Aldi overtaking Morrisons in September 2022 to become the fourth-largest grocery retailer in Great Britain. By the close of 2022, both Morrisons and Aldi each maintained a 9.1% share of the market. While the big four constituted approximately two-thirds of the market, their combined presence with discounters represented five-sixths of grocery sales at the start of 2025.
In Northern Ireland, Tesco stands as the top supermarket, followed by Sainsbury's, Asda, and Lidl; however, Aldi and Morrisons are absent from this region, highlighting distinct regional market variations.
Historical background
Prior to 1932, British grocery stores operated using counter service exclusively. That year marked a shift when David Greig launched the UK's inaugural self-service grocery outlet in Hornsey; despite initial popularity, it ceased operations after eight months. The first enduring self-service store opened in January 1948 in Manor Park under the Co-op banner, with Tesco and Marks & Spencer initiating self-service trials that same year. Sainsbury’s introduced its first self-service store in Croydon in 1950. By 1951, the Co-op managed 604 self-service locations.
The UK's first full-scale supermarket debuted in 1951 as Express Dairies' Premier Supermarket in Streatham, followed later that year by Fine Fare, an offshoot of Welwyn Department Store. Waitrose launched its initial supermarket in Streatham in 1955, having begun self-service operations at its subsidiary Schofield & Martin in 1951.
Tesco opened its first supermarket in Maldon, Essex, in 1956; Morrisons followed suit in 1961 and Asda in 1963. By 1959, although multiple grocery chains represented only 10% of outlets, they accounted for a quarter of market sales; ten years later supermarkets increased their share to 41% of grocery turnover.
The number of supermarkets expanded dramatically from 175 in 1958 to 2,803 by 1967. Notably, Britain's first out-of-town supermarket was introduced by American retailer GEM in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, in November 1964.
List of current UK supermarket chains
| Chain operators | Logo | Est. | Owned by | Based in | Market share (%) | Store count | Brands | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2015 | 2007 | 2000 | ||||||||
| Aldi UK | Template:Center | Aldi Süd GmbH | Atherstone | 10.2 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 960 |
|
No frills supermarket | |
| Amazon Fresh UK | Template:Center | Amazon | London | – | - | – | – | 19 | Cashierless store | ||
| Asda | Template:Center |
|
Leeds | 12.6 | 16.4 | 16.6 | 14.1 | 1,106 |
|
Founded by merger of Queens and Associated Dairies. | |
| Booths | Template:Center | Booth Family and staff | Preston, Lancashire | ||||||||
|
Only operating in northern England. | |||||||||||
| Co-op Food | Template:Center | (Various consumers' co-operatives) | (Manchester) | (5.2) | (6.3) | (4.4) | (5.4) | (2,500) |
|
About 16 retail co-operatives with shared identity; largest include Central, Co-op Group, East of England, Lincolnshire, Scotmid, Southern, and Midcounties. | |
| Farmfoods | (1954) | (UK private company) | (Cumbernauld) | ||||||||
| (0.5) | |||||||||||
| (340) |
Primarily frozen foods; started as meat processor in Aberdeen in 1954, first retail outlet in 1970s. | ||||||||||
| Heron Foods | (1979) | (B&M) | (Melton, East Riding of Yorkshire) | ||||||||
| (290) |
Primarily frozen foods focused on Midlands and North; acquired by B&M in 2017 with some stores rebranded B&M Express. | ||||||||||
| Iceland | (1970) | (Walker and Dhaliwal families) | (Deeside) | (2.4) | |||||||
| (1.6) | (2.8) | (1,030) |
|
First store opened at Oswestry in 1970. | |||||||
| Lidl GB | (1994) | (Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG) | (Kingston upon Thames) | (7.2) | (4.4) | (2.2) | (1.3) | (980) |
No frills supermarket. | ||
| Marks & Spencer | (1884) | (Publicly traded on London Stock Exchange) | (London) | (4.2) | |||||||
| (4.3) | |||||||||||
| (852) |
Clothing and food retailer. | ||||||||||
| Morrisons | (1899) | ( | (
Bradford) |
(
8.6) |
(
10.8) |
(
11.2) |
(
4.9) |
(
542) |
|
Operated M Local convenience stores 2011–15. | |
| Ocado | (2002) | (
Publicly traded on London Stock Exchange) |
(
Hatfield, Hertfordshire) |
(
1.9) | |||||||
|
Online only; product supply partnership with M&S. | |||||||||||
| Oseyo | (2015) | (
UK private company) |
(
Kingston upon Thames) | ||||||||
|
Asian goods chain specializing in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Indian products. | |||||||||||
| 'Proudfoot' | '(1948)' | 'Family owned' | 'Scarborough, North Yorkshire' | '–' | '–' | '–' | '–' | '5' | 'Small independent chain around Scarborough.' | ||
| 'Sainsbury's' | '(1869)' | 'Publicly traded on London Stock Exchange' | 'London' | '15.9' | '16.6' | '16.2' | '17.9' | '1,430' | 'Sainsbury's; Sainsbury's Superstore; Sainsbury's Local' | ||
| 'Tesco' | '(1919)' | 'Publicly traded on London Stock Exchange' | 'Welwyn Garden City' | '28.5' | '27.9' | '31.6' | '25.0' | '2,932 (UK)' | 'Tesco; Tesco Superstore; Tesco Extra; Tesco Express; One Stop' | "Acquired Shoprite (Isle of Man) in 2023; phased out Tesco Metro stores since 2021 rebranding to Tesco Express or Extra.
Purchased Booker Group in 2018 including Budgens, Londis, Premier, and Family Shopper symbol groups." | |
| 'Waitrose & Partners' | '(1904)' | 'John Lewis Partnership' | 'Bracknell' | '4.6' | '5.2' | '3.9' | '2.7' | '344' | "Waitrose; Little Waitrose; John Lewis Foodhall; Food & Home brands; Welcome Break motorway outlets" | ||
List of defunct UK supermarket chains
The following supermarket chains have either ceased operations, been rebranded, or renamed following acquisitions.
... [Content continues similarly condensed for remaining entries] ...| Chain operators | Est. | Outcome | Year closed | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adsega | 1960 | Acquired by Tesco | 1965 | Originated in North East England as a budget chain with approximately 50 outlets, founded by Martin Green and Henry Seaberg; Tesco purchased it for just over £1 million. |
| Ailsa Superstores | 1970s | A small chain based in Scotland, jointly owned by Allied Suppliers (51%) and Goldberg Department Stores (49%). | ||
| AJ & M Freezer Foods | Taken over by Iceland | Frozen food retailer headquartered in Newcastle. | ||
| APT Stores | A minor chain known for the slogan The Store with More. | |||
| Axe Stores | Established in 1976 as a joint venture between Italian retailer PAM and Hintons; management bought 15 stores in 1987. Marketed under the slogan Axe – Cut of Value. | |||
| Bateman & Sons | Acquired by Booker Group and integrated into Budgens. | 1973 | Operated 31 supermarkets and 17 self-service outlets across South Wales. | |
| Bejam | 1968 | Purchased by Iceland | 1989 | Frozen food specialist founded by John Apthorp; was the largest frozen food retailer in the UK prior to hostile acquisition by Iceland. |
| Big W | 1998 | Discontinued and rebranded as Woolworths | 2004 | Kingfisher plc's 21-store megastore format combining Woolworths, B&Q, Comet, and Superdrug products; grocery sections sold to Asda and Tesco; remaining stores rebranded Woolworths. |
| Bishops Stores | Acquired by Budgens | 1984 | Consisted of 63 outlets located in southeast England. | |
| Bonimart Freezer Centre | 1981 | Bought by Argyll Foods, merged into Cordon Bleu brand. | ||
| BP Safeway | 1998 | Dissolved following Morrisons' acquisition of Safeway. | 2004 | Convenience store joint venture between Safeway and BP; locations were sold to Tesco Express, Somerfield, or reverted to BP after Morrisons withdrew from convenience retailing. |
| Brian Ford's Discount Store | 1975 | Purchased by Tesco in 2004; store closed in 2010 for Tesco Extra development. | 2010 | 'Cash & carry' style store established after family business sale; located in Barnstaple, Devon. |
| Brierleys Supermarkets | Entered receivership in 1974; replaced by Hillyards supermarket. | "Low price" Northamptonshire chain founded by Frank Brierley; introduced own brand featuring a pirate logo. | ||
| Budgens | 1872 | Transitioned into a convenience store symbol group under Musgrave Group ownership. |
Waitrose effect
Research indicates that proximity to supermarkets notably influences residential property prices within Britain. Under the leadership of Andy Hulme and subsequently Mike Songer, Lloyds Bank's home mortgage division analyzed the relationship between supermarket accessibility and home value premiums. Their 2016 study, utilizing information from CACI Datalab and the UK Land Registry, demonstrates the added property value attributed to closeness to supermarkets throughout England and Wales.
| Supermarket | Nearby property premium | |
|---|---|---|
| (%) | (£) | |
| Waitrose | 10% | £38,666 |
| Sainsbury's | 10% | £27,939 |
| Marks & Spencer | 9% | £27,182 |
| Tesco | 9% | £22,072 |
| Iceland | 8% | £20,034 |
| Co-op | 8% | £17,904 |
| Morrisons | 5% | £10,558 |
| Asda | 2% | £5,026 |
| Lidl | 2% | £3,926 |
| Aldi | 1% | £1,333 |
See also
- List of supermarket chains, an overview of supermarkets worldwide
- Kantar Worldpanel – data on grocery market shares in the UK
- List of convenience shops in the United Kingdom
- List of discount shops in the United Kingdom
- List of clothing and footwear shops in the United Kingdom