CHESHUNT, ENGLAND – Addition by subtraction is the the name of the game at the UK's largest retailer.

Tesco has announced plans to close 43 underperforming stores across the United Kingdom, over half of which will come from the retailer's Tesco Express format. BBC reports that plans to open another 49 larger format stores have also been shelved as part of this consolidation effort. In all, over two million square feet of development space is expected to be scrapped.

“This is about recognizing the financial reality of where we are as Tesco,” CEO Davis Lewis explained in an interview with BBC. “The 43 stores which we will be closing were unprofitable and not stores which we can see a way of making profitable. We do this with a huge and heavy heart because of the impact it will have on colleagues and the communities in which those stores are located, but we had to make the difficult decision that it was the right to close them.”

“This is a step in the right direction,” Lewis elaborated. “We have shown ourselves that the expertise that exists within the team at Tesco is as good and strong as it's ever been. But we're not at all kidding ourselves that we've in any way turned the corner. There's an awful lot more that we need to do. We'll continue to invest in our business, but we also need to make some tough decisions. Obviously, we've announced some of these today.”

This announcement is expected to affect a variety of regions throughout the UK, including:

• Fort William, Aviemore
• Crieff, Scotland
• Carryduff, County Down
• Armagh, Northern Ireland
• Bridgwater, Somerset
• Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire
• Sleaford, Lincolnshire

In all, Tesco has £250 million of cost cuts measures planned, which include closing its staff pension scheme, selling its Dunnhumby operation, and closing its longtime headquarters in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. Going forward, its main office will move to Welwyn Garden City.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to track Tesco's future retail moves.

Tesco