NEWS that the jobs of workers at Cardigan Co-op have been secured has been welcomed in the town.

Staff at the store in Lower Mwldan will be assured their jobs are safe following the news of a takeover by a rival supermarket chain, the Cambrian News understands.

The stores, which became Co-ops after the company’s buy out of the Somerfield chain for £1.6billion in 2008, will be re-branded as Budgens supermarkets after 36 former Somerfield stores across the UK were snapped up by the Food Retailer Group for an undisclosed sum.

None of the staff at the Cardigan branch – or at their sister store on the Ystwyth Retail Park on Park Avenue in Aberystwyth - will lose their jobs with workers transferred to the new business under the agreement.

“Obviously the future of the Cardigan workforce should be first and foremost in our minds at a time like this,” said deputy mayor Clive Davies.

“While this is a worrying period, the news that Budgens are coming in will obviously be welcomed throughout the town. Hopefully, it will be a case of carrying on, but under another brand.

“We’re 100 per cent certain Cardigan will not be getting a Sainsburys supermarket now, but I am convinced that there is still room for such a facility down there at Lower Mwldan – a site which enjoys ample parking.”

A spokesman for The Food Retailer Group said: “The change in ownership will not impact daily business and stores will continue trading as usual.

“All employees will transfer with the business and there are no planned redundancies.”

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