allaher moves to third party system
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• Tobacco manufacturer Gallaher made 125 distribution and warehouse staff redundant last week in a move which is part of a long-term plan to put more of the company's distribution work out to third-party contractors.
The lay-offs will take effect when depots close at Tipton and Avonmouth in July and at Sheffield and Belfast in November. They will be followed by more job losses in 1994 when two of the remaining four depots close — Stake Hill and Manchester — which employ 100.
Gallaher, Britain's largest tobacco firm, says it is planning to run a more centralised transport system from a main base in the North-West. It will start with about 60 staff in 1994 and increase to around 100 within the year.
This huh will run alongside the two remaining distribution depots at Glasgow and North°lt, London.
Gallaher produces some household names including Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Hamlet and Condor. The company's spokesman declined to comment on which contractors have been awarded distribution work. But it is believed that Bondelivery, one of Gallaher's biggest contractors, could be taking work from Tipton, which has a workforce of 12.
Gallaher will only say that it is evaluating ways of making distribution more cost-effective following a review on the removal of customs border controls in 1993, which is expected to lead to a drop in tobacco sales. It reckons the free market will encourage cheaper tobacco from the Continent.