SUPERMARKET group Morrisons has defied the widespread retail gloom by pledging to create 5,000 jobs this year.

The Bradford-based group – the UK’s fourth largest supermarket – currently has 117,000 staff across 382 stores, including many across the North- East.

It said yesterday that it would create new positions across its chain of stores, although exact locations had not yet been decided.

The new roles will include working on Morrisons’ butchery, fish and bakery counters, although full details were not available.

A total of 18,000 of its staff would be working towards some form of qualifications under the company’s Fresh Food Academy scheme, with NVQs in retail, full apprenticeships for butchers, bakers and fishmongers, and optional key skills training in maths and English.

Personnel director Norman Pickavance said: “Even in these challenging economic conditions, Morrisons is committed to hiring and training new people to keep retail as the engine room of the economy and support our continuing growth.”

Morrisons also wants to add another 93,000sq m (1m sq ft) of store space over the next few years. In December, it agreed to buy 38 stores from the Co-op once the latter’s acquisition of Somerfield is finalised, although those stores will already have their own staff in place.

Analysts believe that Morrisons saw a strong Christmas trading period, forecasting sales up by about nine per cent last month.

It comes only days after rival Sainsbury’s also announced that it would create 4,000 jobs after its “best-ever Christmas” and Iceland bought 51 stores from the administrators of collapsed retailer Woolworths last Friday, with plans to create 2,500 jobs.