East of England Co-op has announced plans to close its regional distribution centre in Ipswich, putting more than 150 jobs at risk.
The closure of the warehouse at Boss Hall Business Park comes as part of redevelopment plans for the site.
The society is joining the Co-op Group’s National Integrated Supply Chain, which will deliver fresh, frozen and shelf-ready food to East of England stores in East Anglia.
Joint chief executive Roger Grosvenor said: “Fully integrating our business into the National Integrated Supply Chain means our customers and members can benefit from greater economies of scale.”
Staff at the site are being consulted over the closure, he added. “We are speaking individually with everyone who will be affected, and our trade union partners, to explore options including redeployment and redundancy. Colleagues are also being offered the opportunity to transfer to a new Co-op Group location in Essex.”
The closure of the distribution centre will not affect Locally Sourced product ranges from more than 100 food and drink suppliers across East Anglia.
