Seven hundred jobs to go at Home Delivery Network
The UK’s dedicated home delivery and collection service is to restructure its delivery network, closing eight sites.
The UK’s dedicated home delivery and collection service is to restructure its delivery network, closing eight sites
Home Delivery Network (HDNL) is to shed 686 staff as it restructures its business in a bid to cut costs and make efficiency savings.
It has started the consultation process to close six depots in its one-man network – Daventry, Northants; Sheffield, South Yorks; Burslem, Staffs; Newcastle (outbase); Basildon, Essex; and Eastleigh, Hants – plus the Edmonton, North London hub for its two-man network.
The one-man depots are due to shut by 22 February and the Edmonton hub by September. In all, some 680 jobs are under threat.
According to Roadtransport.com, the firm will also introduce a number of other initiatives to boost efficiency, which will force a review of staffing levels. A leaked memo adds: “It is anticipated that this review will result in further redundancies in 2009.”
A statement from HDNL says: “This proposal follows a detailed review of HDNL’s depot capacity and service offering which was stimulated by the arrival of a new CEO in February 2008.
“Making these vital strategic changes is key in maintaining HDNL’s market-leading position in the delivery-to-home sector as retailers and their internet customers continue to demand greater convenience and breadth of services as well as increasingly keen pricing.”
Unions Usdaw and Unite have issued a joint statement, saying their members were ‘devastated’ by the news.
