KWIK SAVE workers across Gwent are facing different futures following major restructuring by the national supermarket chain.

Twenty-one employees in the Kwik Save store in Pontymister, Risca, found out they were to lose their jobs, while at other Gwent stores workers will have new bosses.

Somerfield announced it was selling the Kwik Save brand and most of its stores to new owner BTTF for an undisclosed sum - but rumoured to be around £200 million.

But only four of the shops in Gwent are transferring to the company set up specifically to operate Kwik Save: Commercial Road and Ringland, in Newport, Brynmawr and Ebbw Vale, which together employ 61 staff.

Somerfield has retained 102 Kwik Save stores, including ones in Maindee, Newport, and Llantarnam, in Cwmbran, securing 52 jobs in Gwent.

All will be converted to the company's fascia between now and Christmas. Another 44 workers in Pontypool and Tredegar will be under new management after their stores were sold subject to contract to another owner.

"The operation of Kwik Save alongside the core business has been unsuccessful and Kwik Save has incurred substantial losses," said a company spokesman.

Retail union Usdaw have called for an urgent meeting with Somerfield to discuss the implications of the sale for 7,000 staff in the UK.

National officer Joanne McGuinness said members in the stores not transferring to new owners were facing a difficult time and they would be doing all they could to ensure the best redundancy package possible if stores closed.

She added that the union welcomed the aim of securing the long-term future of two well-known high street names and making sure about 6,000 workers had a job.

Somerfield, which bought Welsh-based Kwik Save in 1998, was taken over by a consortium - Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Barclays Capital and the Tchenguiz Family Trust - in December. The company's shares are no longer listed on the London Stock Exchange.