Frontline Group, the magazine distributor owned by publishers Bauer, Immediate and Haymarket, has awarded a five year contract to Menzies Distribution to provide both distribution and primary trunking.
Menzies will provide the group’s two key divisions, Frontline and Seymour, with wholesale distribution to more than 25,000 retailers across the UK and Ireland.
It will also provide primary trunking services for Frontline and Seymour starting this summer. As a result, Menzies will now be responsible for the majority of primary trunking of print media across the UK and Ireland.
Mark Churchill, group supply chain director at Frontline, said: “We are confident that Menzies Distribution is the right partner for our UK and Ireland end-to-end magazine supply chain – collecting supplies from print site and delivering to Retail. We look forward to working with them to deliver this new contract and help drive further improvements.”
In December, Seymour also agreed a five-year distribution contract with Smiths News worth some £79 million a year.
This latest contract for Menzies follows additional national primary trunking and wholesale distribution with Daily Mirror publisher Reach and News UK, which publishes The Sun and The Times.
It is opening a 165,000 sq ft distribution hub at Imperial Park in Coventry, which will serve the group’s network of 65 regional hubs across the UK and Ireland.
The group has also increased its fleet size through investing in new trucks and trailer capacity as well acquiring Gnewt Cargo, which operates a fleet of electric vans in London.
Chief executive Greg Michael said: “This contract win alongside the recent similar trunking and wholesale wins with Reach and News UK will maintain a long term sustainable route to market for print media and support Menzies Distribution’s wider diversification strategy to grow our network across the whole of the UK and Ireland to underpin newstrade as its partner of choice.
