News

Around 800 jobs at Wincanton are at risk of being axed following decisions by supermarkets Somerfield and Morrisons to restructure part of their supply chains.

Wincanton announced it is closing two sites run for Somerfield: an ambient depot at Ross-on-Wye, Gloucester-shire and a chilled depot at Tewkesbury, Herefordshire, along with "the associated regional transport function that covers both operations".

More than 500 workers could be affected, including 180 at a warehouse and depot  at the Ashchurch, Tewkesbury site. Wincanton is unable to say exactly how many staff will lose their jobs but says it is possible that some of the Tewkesbury workforce could relocate to other sites.

A spokesman for Somerfield says the chain looked at reducing its distribution capacity following the sale of more than 200 Kwik Save stores in February last year. "We had excess capacity in that region [Tewkesbury/Ross-on-Wye] and believed that reducing it would be the best move for our business going forward," he says.

The TGWU said a meeting was arranged to discuss the Tewkesbury situation on February 7. Shopworkers union USDAW, which represents the warehouse staff, says the news is a "huge blow" to its members.

The news of the shake-up followed the announcement that hundreds of Wincanton jobs could also be lost at the company's depots in Bathgate, West Lothian after a decision by Morrisons to restructure its distribution network.

One of the two sites could  close. Wincanton says 318 staff are employed at the two depots involved. "We don't know how many redundancies there will be yet," says a spokesman, but the TGWU fears around 250 job losses.