RETAIL GIANT MARKS & Spencer has shrunk its distribution costs
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by £15.9m after closing almost a fifth of its warehouses, and it intends to consolidate its operation further.
The retailer said its distribution costs fell by 3.9% to £394.4m for the year ended 27 March, compared with £410,3m for the 12 months to 28 March 2009.
The reduction contributed to group savings of £35m last year, achieved through Project 2020, the firm's supply chain restructure programme.
During the period, 21 of the company's 110 warehouses were closed, including DHL-run sites at Exeter, Leicester and Middleton (Manchester).
M&S says it intends to shut the remaining 89 facilities and instead open four national distribution centres (NDCs) by 2020. It has already opened a 1million ft' site in Bradford.
The retailer has also identified a second site in the Midlands, which, subject to planning permission, is scheduled to open in summer 2012.