Contractors were this week looking forward to a wave of supermarket work once the battle over the future of the Safeway group is decided.
Safeway is the subject of a three-way struggle between food retailers Morrisons, J Sainsbury and Walmart. Morrisons opened the bidding at £2.6bn last week. This was followed by an offer of £3.2bn from Sainsbury, and a cash offer from Walmart for an as yet unspecified figure.

Contractors said they expected a flood of refurbishment and reconfiguration work on Safeway stores after a deal was finalised.

One industry source who has worked for Safeway said a Morrisons victory would generate the most work.

He said: "The layout of Morrisons' stores are much more different to the Safeway stores than Sainsbury's. There would be more reconfiguring to do if Morrisons won."

Market sources said Safeway had slowed down its construction programme in the last three months, possibly in the run-up to a sale. The group was in the course of a refurbishment programme that included 100 Safeway stores, but put it on hold last autumn.

One consultant working for Safeway reacted with surprise to the ownership battle.

He said: "It was a bit of a shock, especially when Morrisons came in. We didn't think there would be a bid until next year."