Responding to customer feedback, Newey & Eyre, has announced plans to move to a decentralised stock distribution system and will introduce a number of new regional distribution centres across the UK, but is likely to close its Runcorn national distribution centre:
The company's 175-strong national branch network remains crucial to the future of the business and will now be directly supported by a network of regional distribution centres, each carrying a wide range of products for enhanced local availability.
Following the planned introduction of the regional centres, which is likely to create around 180 new positions across the UK, and an extensive staff consultation exercise, parent company Hagemeyer anticipates that its Runcorn-based national distribution centre (NDC) is likely to cease to operate from 1st September 2005. At present the site employs around 500 people with around 20% of these contracted on an agency basis.
The 'level of service' required:
Rod Stoyel, chief executive officer of Hagemeyer UK said: "Electrical wholesaling distribution is all about having stock in branches and available to our customers. This new logistics model enable us to provide the level of service that our customers require.
To achieve this, a number of regional distribution centres are required to replace our current national warehouse. Unfortunately redundancies are inevitable, but we are carrying out extensive consultations with all of our staff who are affected by this change and we will be making every effort to redeploy our Runcorn-based staff to other areas of the business and to help others to find alternative employment in the local area."