Morrisons is to combine the trials it is running on fresh food and space allocation at stores in St Albans and Wrexham.

The grocer is currently trialling fresh food innovations at its Kirkstall store, and in Shrewsbury it is trialling several ideas to free up space for other categories.

The two trials will combine in St Albans, which will be a revamp of the existing store, and in Wrexham which will be new build store.

Chief executive Dalton Philips said the trials have “performed well”. In fresh, Morrisons has introduced 336 new SKUs, and has seen sales increases including bakery up 15%, wine up 24%, and produce up 13%.

In its space lab, it has freed up space including 1,000 sq ft which is now dedicated to kids clothing.

Philips said: “We’re still tweaking things, so for example, we cut cleaning products too aggressively and are now bring some back, and in biscuits we could have cut more.”

The two combined stores will be trialled further before elements are rolled out to the rest of the estate.

Morrisons today reported profits up 8%, and the appointment of a managing director for its online food launch.

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