Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons are gearing up for a challenging year combatting discounters and changing shopping habits alike.

Those of us reporting on the British grocery sector are running out of new ways to describe the seismic changes that are reshaping the industry. Yet even by the standards of the past 12 months, this has been a week of high drama.

Tesco was first under the spotlight, with a new UK boss, the disposal of non-core assets, the closure of the group’s HQ at Cheshunt and commitments to slash 30% from overheads.

Sainsbury’s followed suit with plans to deliver £500m in costs savings that will see the grocer shed 500 roles as it streamlines central divisions and brings together its supermarket and convenience businesses.

But Morrisons delivered perhaps the most dramatic measure with the news it would be parting company with boss Dalton Philips following a turbulent five-year tenure.

Job losses, the forging of one of the most highly-anticipated strategies in British business and the toppling of the boss of the country’s fourth biggest grocer – the narrative of 2015 is already being told at breakneck speed.

But perhaps the biggest story of the year so far, the one that will go on to shape the next 12 months, sits underneath these headline-grabbing events. It would be too easy to use this week as further evidence of a sector in deep crisis. In fact, Christmas sales were better than expected for the three quoted grocers, an outcome few would have predicted as the golden quarter kicked off.

In this context, the changes this week take on a different hue.

“The grocers enter 2015 with greater clarity on what must be achieved”

Chris Brook-Carter

Growth at Aldi and Lidl – along with Waitrose – continues to set the pace and the scale of their new store opening plans alone will ensure the challenge they pose to their mainstream rivals remains a clear and present danger. But there are indicators the fight back has begun.

Three of the big four will be headed by new leadership this year, individuals determined to stamp their mark, with an agenda to drive change.

Moreover, they enter the new year with a far greater clarity on the scale of change that must be achieved if they are to return their businesses to growth and greater capital discipline following reappraisal of store portfolios and central overheads.

It’s too easy to get caught up in the hyperbole that has surrounded grocery in the last year and to forget the scale and ambition of the businesses involved, their track records for adapting and the resources at their disposal to take the fight to the discounters.

Of course, Aldi and Lidl are not the only challenges – grocery is still a deflationary sector and shopper habits are evolving. 2015 is poised to be another challenging one, but the big four are certainly readying the troops.

  • Chris Brook-Carter, Editor-in-chief