Approximately 1,600 jobs have been axed at Morrisons after the supermarket chain confirms the closure of three depots in Aylesford, Warrington and Bristol. Morrisons has confirmed the closures of the depots following a review of its distribution network.
Morrisons is shutting the sites because it has more depots than it needs to supply its stores following its £3bn purchase of Safeway.
In December the company closed its depot in Warrington with the loss of 700 jobs, but the threat of strike action by the GMB and TGWU unions forced the company into offering an enhanced redundancy package.
In Morrisons Christmas sales update, the supermarket saw solid sales growth over both the Christmas and New Year period. Total sales of the 380 stores in the Group during this period increased by 6.1%. They reported that like for like sales were up by 4.4%, reflecting the success of the Safeway conversion programme which was concluded in November 2005.
In its sales update, Morrisons also confirmed that redundancy costs are expected to be around £60 million. .
