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Safeway Morrisons has announced a £3bn agreed takeover offer for Safeway, which will create a nationwide chain of 552 supermarkets and lead to the closure of Safeway's head office in Hayes with the loss of about 1,200 jobs. 16-Dec-2003 Safeway is considering plans to build a new supermarket at Ellon near Aberdeen, with the creation of 90 new jobs and the transfer of staff from its existing site. 14-Aug-2003 Safeway is in negotiations to acquire a further six urban sites for its new Citystore convenience format. 30-Jun-2003 Morrisons has launched a £2.5bn agreed bid for Safeway, creating a combined supermarkets group with 598 stores, but 1,200 Safeway jobs could be lost through the closure of its head office in Hayes. 10-Jan-2003 Safeway is planning to spend £100m opening three more stores in Northern Ireland, with the creation of 1,000 jobs, and some existing stores will be replaced by larger outlets. 25-Oct-2002 Safeway is planning to double the size of its staff training centre in Burton-on-Trent, with five new areas being opened by spring 2003. 19-Aug-2002 Safeway is looking to open a chain of convenience stores across the country, and the first two sites will start trading in Glasgow and Edinburgh later this year. 22-Jul-2002 Safeway is centralising its human resources and recruitment functions at a dedicated service centre in Warrington, in order to save £3m a year. 15-Jul-2002 Safeway is to take full control of its retailing operation in Northern Ireland by paying £22m for the remaining 50% of Safeway Stores Ireland from joint venture partner Fitzwilton. 08-Jul-2002 Safeway is reviewing the future of its 27 in-store post offices, and could replace some of them with dry cleaning and photo processing concessions. 27-May-2002 Safeway is planning to spend £350m refurbishing about 100 stores this year, and six new outlets will open taking the total to 481. 16-May-2002 Safeway is forming a joint venture with property company London & Regional to consider the development potential of its 480 stores, and possible projects include the construction of buildings on stilts in its car parks. 13-May-2002 Safeway is outsourcing its returns management to Consignia in order to reduce the costs involved in dealing with faulty goods, and Consignia is now looking to set up similar partnerships with other retailers. 04-Mar-2002 Safeway is to become the first leading retailer to launch a pizza delivery service, starting with trials at its St Katherine's Dock store. 28-Jan-2002 Safeway is looking to recruit 335 extra staff in Rushden, in preparation for the May opening of its expanded superstore in Crown Way. 09-Jan-2002 Safeway is planning to open 12 new in-store dry cleaning outlets over the next four months. 19-Nov-2001 Safeway is to invest £100m in the refurbishment of 22 stores in Scotland over the next 12 months, with the creation of 2,000 jobs. 24-Sep-2001 Safeway is to create 100 new jobs at its supermarket in Belper after completing a £1m refurbishment over the next six months. 28-Aug-2001 Safeway is planning to trial a low cost fresh food supermarket in less affluent areas early next year. 16-Jul-2001 Safeway is seeking permission to upgrade and modernise the Westhill Shopping Centre near Aberdeen, with the creation of 100 jobs. 11-Jul-2001 Safeway is planning to open 40 Cafe Fresco restaurants over the next 18 months, and is looking into the possibility of opening stand-alone units. 11-Jun-2001 Safeway is to spend £450m refurbishing more than 100 stores this year, and ten new outlets will open by 2003. 17-May-2001 Safeway is looking at ways to expand its rail freight strategy across the country following the success of its scheme in north Scotland, and is also planning to run a fleet of 50 lorries using compressed natural gas in London. 01-May-2001 Safeway is to set up three new staff training centres in London, Edinburgh and the Midlands this year in order to retrain staff for its new-look stores. 19-Mar-2001 Safeway is to set up new photo processing labs at 70 of its stores this year. 19-Mar-2001 Safeway is planning to expand its retailing business in Northern Ireland, which will involve building new stores in south Belfast and Bangor and replacing or extending other sites. 26-Feb-2001 Safeway has announced plans to refit about 50 supermarkets in south-east England over the next few months, and more convenience stores will be opened in London. 17-Jan-2001 Safeway has announced plans to open 25 hypermarkets over the next two years by extending existing outlets, and a further 45 will be opened in following years. 24-Nov-2000 Safeway is closing its supermarket in Beckenham High Street this month, with the loss of 57 jobs. 16-Nov-2000 Safeway is to create 80 new jobs at its distribution depot near Cullompton, as part of an expansion of its national depot network that will result in more than 600 new jobs. 13-Nov-2000 Safeway has awarded a £10m contract to Bovis Lend Lease to build a superstore in Woking. 27-Jul-2000 Tesco and Safeway have both submitted plans to Erewash Borough Council for the construction of superstores in Ilkeston. 24-Jul-2000 Safeway is to close its Cromwell Road store in Grimsby with the loss of up to 64 jobs, and another store in nearby Brigg will also close. 12-Jul-2000 Safeway has won the go-ahead to build a £17m turf-roofed superstore in Aberdeen's West End, with the creation of 300 jobs. 30-Jun-2000 Safeway is to scrap its ABC loyalty card in order to save £50m this year and focus on price cuts. 05-May-2000 Safeway is planning to expand the range of accessory businesses at its superstores, including services such as photo labs, restaurants and dry cleaners. 02-May-2000 Safeway is to cut 160 jobs in its trading, marketing and buying departments, as part of a strategy to delegate more responsibility to store managers. 03-Dec-1999 Safeway is seeking permission to build a £17m underground supermarket in the West End area of Aberdeen. 29-Nov-1999 Safeway is planning to create 3,500 jobs by opening and extending stores, but up to 100 jobs will be lost by removing a layer of regional management. 14-Jul-1999 Safeway is to open a late-night mini-store in Warwick, one of 50 outlets being set up on BP petrol forecourts throughout the country. 01-Jul-1999 Safeway is seeking planning permission to build a superstore in Worcester, which would create up to 280 jobs. 09-Jun-1999 Safeway is planning to spend up to £270m buying back shares, which should put an end to speculation that the supermarket chain is seeking a merger partner. 13-May-1999 Safeway has submitted plans to Hyndburn Council to build a new store in Great Harwood near Blackburn, creating 180 jobs. 30-Mar-1999 Safeway is to relocate its existing supermarket in Wimbledon town centre to a new and larger site, and is also pressing ahead with plans for an additional store at nearby Plough Lane. 04-Feb-1999 Safeway has announced plans to build a superstore at Alness in the Highlands, which will create 200 jobs. 27-Jan-1999 Safeway is to trial video vending machines outside its stores, in a joint venture with Blockbuster. 19-Dec-1998 Safeway has developed a hand-held personalised shopping device in conjunction with IBM that will enable customers to order goods from anywhere and collect them from the store later. 17-Dec-1998 Safeway is to open a 50,000 sq ft depot for grocery and chilled products in Larne, Northern Ireland, in an alliance with P&O Ferries, creating 100 jobs. 10-Dec-1998 Safeway is seeking planning permission to build a £50m underground supermarket in Aberdeen. 07-Dec-1998 Safeway has announced plans to switch from road to rail freight in supplying the Inverness area from its main depot in Bellshill. 24-Nov-1998 Safeway is to reduce its spending on new stores in order to focus on improving existing stores, and is planning to create an additional 100 fish and meat counters, 30 pharmacies and 40 coffee shops. 21-Nov-1998 Safeway is seeking planning permission to build a £13m superstore in Hertford. 20-Nov-1998 Safeway is to close the former Wellworths store in Armagh with the loss of 130 jobs, as it was facing competition from a new Sainsbury store. 14-Nov-1998 Safeway has bought the former Wimbledon Football Club site at Plough Lane, but is still seeking planning permission for a £20m superstore. 30-Oct-1998 Safeway is to close its supermarket in Sunderland city centre with the loss of about 60 jobs. 25-Sep-1998 Safeway and Abbey National are to create the UK's largest in-store bank network, and 160 jobs will be created as the scheme is rolled out to a further 25 Asda branches over the next year. 02-Sep-1998 Safeway is planning to spend £40m developing its stores in Northern Ireland, including new stores in Omagh and Downpatrick, with the creation of 250 jobs. 24-Aug-1998 BP and Safeway have announced plans to set up a chain of 100 mini-supermarkets at petrol stations over the next four years, creating 2,000 jobs. 16-Jul-1998 Safeway is to relaunch its ABC loyalty card by offering double or triple reward points to customers who spend more than £160 or £240 per month respectively. 17-Apr-1998 Safeway is to cut 100 jobs from its head office, and investors are becoming increasingly concerned that the company is falling behind the other leading food retailers. 19-Feb-1998 Tesco and Safeway have announced revolutionary plans to share live sales data with their suppliers in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency of the supply chain. 28-Jan-1998 Safeway is delaying the release of its Christmas trading figures, fuelling speculation that it wants to report the best figures possible in order to help its defence against any takeover bid. 22-Jan-1998 Safeway is launching a direct savings account in conjunction with Abbey National, using tiered interest rates rather than the flat rates offered by Sainsbury and Tesco. 17-Jan-1998 Asda is planning to build its George clothing operation into a £1bn business over the next four years, but has rejected rumours that it is interested in bidding for Safeway, the rival supermarkets chain. 19-Dec-1997 Safeway is to offer share options to all permanent employees under a new incentive scheme that is aimed at improving customer care in its supermarkets. 19-Nov-1997 Safeway is to create 2,000 jobs in Northern Ireland in an 18-month expansion programme and is actively looking for sites in the Republic. 17-Nov-1997 Safeway is to use the internet to allow suppliers to get information on stock levels, sales performance and demand forecasts, helping the company to improve the availability of products at its supermarkets. 10-Nov-1997 Asda and Safeway have called off secret merger discussions due to fears of government opposition, a move which would have created a food retailing group similar in size to Tesco. 29-Sep-1997 Safeway has launched a £20m price cutting campaign to ensure that its products are competitive with those of its main rivals, although it wants to avoid a price war. 19-Aug-1997 Safeway is planning to introduce banks into its stores in a joint venture with Abbey National, starting with a trial in Leicester. 01-Jul-1997 Safeway is to start using rail to supply its stores, in a trial between the Midlands and Scotland. 30-Jun-1997 Safeway is acquiring a 50% stake in the 15 biggest stores owned by Wellworth in Northern Ireland, and will build a further three or four stores a year in the North and in the Republic in a joint venture with Fitzwilton Group. 20-Jun-1997 Safeway is to create an additional 1,600 customer service jobs at existing stores, as well as a further 6,400 jobs at 34 new stores planned for the next two years. 15-May-1997 The music market is facing a price war following recent price-cutting promotions for albums by Safeway and Tesco. 18-Mar-1997 Safeway plans to save £1m a year by introducing a satellite system to keep track of its 600 trucks as they move about the country. 24-Feb-1997 Safeway has launched a debit card account with Abbey National, and will later introduce debit cards with overdrafts and Visa cards. 11-Feb-1997 Safeway is discussing a possible joint venture with Wellworth, the Northern Ireland supermarket group, which would enable it to overtake Tesco and Sainsbury in the province. 06-Feb-1997 Safeway, the supermarket chain, is to launch an interest-bearing debit account service called ABC Bonus, in conjunction with Abbey National. 28-Nov-1996 Safeway is planning to set up 15 superstores and 4 supermarkets a year for the next two years, in a move which will create 3,500 full-time jobs. 22-Nov-1996 Safeway is planning to open 100 small supermarkets on BP petrol station forecourts, in a £100m joint venture which will create up to 2,000 jobs. 07-Sep-1996 Safeway, the supermarket chain, may move into the electricity supply business when the market is deregulated in 1998, either by acting as an agent and setting up kiosks in its stores or by using a more direct approach and buying electricity from generators to sell on to the public. 05-Jul-1996 Argyll Group is to change its name to Safeway and transfer its 110 Presto outlets to the Safeway format. 16-May-1996 Safeway is to introduce Shop & Go to all its 150 superstores, a system which enables customers to work out their own bills with the use of a hand-held scanner before they reach the check-out. 27-Apr-1996 Safeway and Sainsbury are both launching the UK's first genetically engineered food - a tomato puree. 03-Feb-1996 Safeway is launching its ABC loyalty card nationally, which requires a minimum purchase of only £1. 11-Oct-1995 Safeway is planning to set up an independent company to sell trading data to suppliers, having ended its contract with Nielsen. 26-Sep-1995 The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report. 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