Local jobs to be axed after M&S announces warehouse closure

[dutchman]

More jobs are set to be axed in Coventry after Marks & Spencer announced plans to close its warehouse in Baginton.



The distribution centre in Rowley Road – which is run by logistics firm DHL – will be shut down completely in April as part of M&S' ongoing moves to restructure the business.

Although it’s unclear how many people are employed at the warehouse, bosses say all staff have been informed and consultations are now taking place.

The news comes just weeks after hundreds of workers in Coventry lost their jobs when neighbouring parcel firm City Link collapsed into administration.

Over 2,000 redundancies were announced by the firm on New Year’s Eve – with Coventry feeling the brunt with 350 jobs lost at its headquarters.

Today, a spokesman for DHL said they will try to find new opportunities for staff – but some workers have told the Telegraph their only option is to relocate to Peterborough.

DHL said: “Today, announcements have been made at the DHL M&S sites in Coventry and Leicester to cease operations. Under the proposal, the Coventry Distribution Centre would close in April 2015 and the Leicester site in the summer of 2015.

“This forms part of Marks & Spencer’s supply chain transformation programme as it continues to review and implement changes to its logistics network to ensure the physical infrastructure is in place to support business growth in a challenging market place.

“DHL will now enter into a period of consultation both with the trade unions and individually with affected employees to discuss ways to minimise the impact.

“DHL is also actively seeking alternative employment opportunities within the organisation for those affected.”

Last week, High Street giant M&S dealt a blow to investors with poor sales figures in homewares and clothing but its latest Christmas woes were partly self-inflicted after teething problems at a new warehouse delayed online orders.

This proved to be a costly mistake as rival retailers including John Lewis and Next capitalised on the strength of online demand to offset more testing trading conditions for their store operations. M&S was also squeezed by the warm autumn weather.