Morrisons expands M local convenience stores

Friday 28th June 2013

Yorkshire supermarket group Morrisons is to open a new distribution centre to support its expanding M local convenience store network.

The new centre in Radcliffe near Bury will create 100 jobs when it is up and running.   A team from Yorkshire law firm, Gordons, led by Andy Brian, advised Morrisons on its arrangements with Wincanton.

The North West site is Morrisons’ second convenience distribution hub, following on from the opening of its site in Feltham, West London, in March, and will support the opening of the 62 sites acquired from failed retailers Blockbuster, HMV and Jessops earlier this year.

Morrisons is aiming to have over 100 Morrisons M local convenience stores open by the end of January 2014, creating 2,000 jobs.

The Bury site will be leased for five years and run by supply chain specialists Wincanton on behalf of Morrisons.

Neal Austin, Morrisons group logistics and supply chain director, said: “This is a big year for M local as we expand at pace. The convenience market is a fantastic opportunity for us and, as we expand our store offering, we’ve got to make sure we have the infrastructure to support it.”

Eric Born, chief executive of Wincanton, said: “We are delighted to be expanding our partnership with Morrisons with the announcement of this five year contract.

“Over the last 18 months, we have seen our market share grow as we broaden our service offering in the UK retail sector, and today’s announcement confirms the enormous potential that exists for Wincanton.”