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Sainsbury’s has announced its plans to close two Argos depots in Basildon, Essex, and Heywood, Manchester, by 2026, which will impact a total of 1,400 jobs.
The news comes as the supermarket chain plans to further “integrate and transform” its general merchandise logistics network in England with an investment of approximately £90m, one of the retailer’s biggest to date.
The closures will affect both Sainsbury’s staff and those who work for third party partners, however the retailer has stated that employees impacted by these plans will have “the opportunity to explore alternative roles” within its stores.
Sainsbury’s plans to further invest in its automating operations at its Daventry site, enabling a reduction of stock, more responsive delivery to customers and stores, as well as a simpler delivery process for suppliers.
At this stage, it is not expected that the number of roles at Daventry will be affected.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “As with any major change to our business, we have not taken the difficult decision to start this consultation lightly. As part of our plan to create a simpler business, we previously set out our intention to integrate our Argos and Sainsbury’s logistics networks.
“We understand that this will be an unsettling time for affected colleagues, and we will support them however we can throughout this process. We will be consulting closely with unions and colleagues as we look to streamline the number of sites in our general merchandise logistics network.”
