Exel wins five-year contract with JD Wetherspoon worth GBP 100 million

(London, UK – 30 March 2004) Exel has won a £100 million, five-year contract
with JD Wetherspoon, the leading UK pub operator, to manage its entire UK small
pack supply chain, which includes food, bottled beers, wines, spirits and soft
drinks. Exel will work closely with the organisation to bring together
existing, multiple supply chains to create a single UK supply chain.
Wetherspoon has been working towards this approach for some time and following
an extensive tendering process has selected Exel for this groundbreaking
contract.

Delivering to approximately 640 pubs in the UK, Exel will assist Wetherspoon
with its forecasting and manage the ordering, storage and distribution of
chilled, ambient and frozen food, bottled and canned beers, wines and spirits,
soft drinks, point-of-sale material and consumables such as stationery,
napkins, cleaning materials, uniforms and glasses. Wetherspoon is keen to cut
the number of deliveries to each pub from an average of 27 per week to around
three per week and is confident that Exel is best placed to help achieve this
objective.

Wetherspoon has leased a dedicated, multi-temperature, 175,000 sq ft national
distribution centre (NDC) in Daventry, Northamptonshire, for Exel to use. This
should create in excess of 250 jobs in the local area. The NDC will serve a
number of Exel’s outbases including Mallusk, Airdrie, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and
Frome using approximately 65 multi-temperature vehicles to make deliveries
across the UK.

The contract also includes returns management (reverse logistics) and the
recycling of waste items from the pub estate such as waste cooking oil,
cardboard, plastics and glass which will be managed with the support of Cory
Environmental, an Exel company.

Paul Harbottle, Head of Distribution, Wetherspoon said, ‘This is a
fundamentally different approach to how we supply products to our pubs. We are
confident that with Exel’s expertise we can consolidate five supply chains to
create one supply chain which will help us improve processes and simplify the
interface with our pub managers and our associates.’

Ian Cramb, Development Director, Exel, UK said, ‘We have worked very closely
with Wetherspoon over a considerable period of time to establish the optimum
supply chain solution for its UK network and meet Wetherspoon’s goals of
consolidating deliveries and simplifying the interface with the pub estate. I
am delighted that we are able to leverage our experience in the food and drinks
sector to add value to the Wetherspoon business.’