450 jobs at risk as Marks and Spencer close Hardwick facility

Marks and Spencer’s Hardwick distribution centre is set to close in September as part of a plan to transform the company’s logistic networks.

The department store chain believes that a smaller network of large distribution will be faster and more cost effective.

The contractors, DHL and XPO Logistics provide the chains stores with clothing and home furnishings and have begun a period of consultation with the 450 people employed at the site.

DHL have been selected to run operations at the company’s new site in Welham Green, Hertfordshire, and will recruit 500 people at the new site which will open in 2019.

Marks and Spencer have also started to automate many of their distribution centres such as the one in Bradford.

This decision comes after the chain closed its stores in the nearby Pyramid Shopping Centre in Birkenhead, alongside many others across the UK.