List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom
Supermarket Fate Closed Notes
APT Stores Chain of small supermarkets with the catchphrase The Store with More
Bejam Bought by Iceland 1989 Frozen foods
Big W Discontinued , rebranded as Woolworths 2004 21 store chain of megastores styled after Walmart in America ; 7 of the stores were sold to Asda and Tesco ( the stores that had permission to stock groceries ) and the remaining 14 stores were rebranded and downsized under the regular Woolworths banner
Bishops Bought by Budgens 1984 63 stores in south east England
BP Safeway Dissolved following Safeway takeover by Morrisons Partnership between BP plc and Safeway , listed as Equinox retailing ; some stores now Tesco Express
Brian Ford 's Discount Store Bought by Tesco in 2004 2010 Opened by Brian Ford after the sale of the family Ford & Lock business to Gateway in 1974 . The business opened in the former Deveres Kensington engineering building in Barnstaple , Devon expanding with an extension in 1981 . The business was based on the 'cash & carry ' principle . The business was purchased by Tesco in 2004 but continued to be run as Brian Fords until permission was gained to build a Tesco Extra
Brierleys Supermarkets Superseded by Hillyards supermarket Embrionic supermarket chain founded by a former market trader in Northamptonshire , offering very low prices with a moderate choice of products ; on occasions the owner would set up a market stall right in the middle of the supermarket
Burton Supermarkets Bought by Fine Fare Small Nottinghamshire based supermarket chain purchased by Fine Fare and re-branded
Capital Freezer Centres Now owned by Farmfoods Chain of freezer stores located in England and Scotland ; owned by United Biscuits since 1979 ; a management buyout happened in 1989
Carrefour UK business sold to Gateway/Somerfield , then later to Asda 1990
Cartier 's Superfoods Bought by Tesco 1979 Small Kent based supermarket chain taken over by Tesco
Cater Brothers Became part of Prestos 1979 Henry John Cater founded the grocery and provisions business in Mile End , London 1881 . Cater Brothers were a South East-based chain . When their first supermarket ( Bromley , Kent ) opened in 1958 it was the largest in the UK . In 1972 they were bought out by Debenhams after the death of the chairman Leslie Cater in the same plane crash that killed F J Wallis . In 1979 Debenhams sold the chain to Allied Suppliers who re-branded the stores under their Presto brand
Challenge Supermarket Became part of Frank Dee Supermarket based in Yorkshire that was purchased by Frank Dee in the 1980s and incorporated into the chain
Cooltrader brought out by Heron Foods 2017 Opened in Wrexham , founded by Iceland founder Malcolm Walker . Cooltrader became part of Iceland after Malcolm Walker 's takeover of that business , then sold in 2012 to Heron Foods
Coopers & Co Bought by Fine Fare 1955 Scotland based supermarket and grocers chain bought by Fine Fare and re-branded as Coopers Fine Fare
Cordon Bleu Owned by Argyll Supplies Chain of freezer shops owned by Argyll Supplies ; stores were re-branded under the Lo-cost or Presto name
County Stores Sold to Gateway , converted to Somerfield 1990
Crazy Prices Bought by Tesco ABF owned Northern Ireland group
Dalgety Freezer Centres Bought by James Gullivers Argyll Supplies 38 freezer centre bought by James Gulliver and added to Argyll Supplies Cordon Bleu business
David Greig Bought by Fitch Lovell Merged into Key Markets
List of defunct UK supermarket chains
These supermarkets are either no longer trading , have been renamed , or have been taken over and rebranded .
This is a list of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom. Grocery sales in the UK are dominated by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. These, dubbed the 'big four', had a combined market share of 73.2% of the UK grocery market in the 12 weeks ending 4 January 2015, a decline from 74.1% in 2007. Discounters Aldi and Lidl have seen a combined rise in market share from 4.8% to 8.3% over that time, while upscale grocer Waitrose's share rose from 3.9% to 5.1%. As of KANTAR data published on 24 March 2019, the market share is dominated by Tesco, with Asda being second and Sainsbury's third. Morrisons are the largest of the remaining stores. In early 2017, Tesco announced a deal to merge with Booker, the UK's largest wholesale food retailer, while Aldi became the 5th biggest supermarket. Premier Supermarkets, a subsidiary of Express Dairies, opened the UK's first supermarket in Streatham, South London in 1951, though The Co-operative Food opened Britain's first fully self-service store in March 1948 in Albert Road, Southsea.