Hundreds of jobs at risk with plans to close Argos depot in Heywood

More than 350 jobs are at risk at the Argos depot at Heywood Distribution Park, as Sainsbury’s has announced plans to close the warehouse by 2026.

The supermarket retailer – which has owned the high-street catalogue store since 2016 – has revealed plans to combine five depots for both brands into three over the next three years.

The two warehouses earmarked for closure are the Argos depot in Heywood, which serves stores in the north, and one in Basildon, serving the south east.

It says these changes will ‘create a simpler, more modern network to significantly improve availability, reduce stock and enable faster customer deliveries’.

A consultation has begun with a total of 1,400 jobs at risk at both warehouses. Sainsbury’s declined to confirm how many jobs in Heywood are at risk: trade union Unite says it is around 350 jobs that are at risk in Heywood.

Unite say there is “no economic justice” for the move. It adds jobs of HGV drivers employed by Wincanton, on an outsourced contract, are also at risk.

Unite national officer Matt Draper said: “Management at Argos/Sainsbury’s has yet to provide any form of business case for the loss of these jobs.

“Unite will be fighting to preserve every job and will put forward an alternative business case to the company to preserve employment at these two sites.

“This is an incredibly wealthy company which should be investing in its loyal workforce rather than dumping workers in pursuit of short-term profits.

“If Sainsbury’s doesn’t drop its closure plans then Unite will pursue all avenues to preserve employment at these sites.”

Leader of Rochdale Borough Council, Neil Emmott, described the plans as a "major blow" as ward councillor Angela Brown said she was "really concerned" by the move.

Councillor Emmott said: "This is clearly a major blow for Heywood and the borough as a whole and above all for the workforce at the Argos unit.

"The council will be making contact with Argos to try and persuade them to stay or if that's not possible we need to work out how best to protect the livelihoods of the workforce going forward to the closure.

"We will engage with Argos, the trades unions and the workforce on this issue. If the closure is unavoidable, then we will engage with other local businesses to secure alternative employment opportunities for as many people as possible."

Councillor Brown said: "I am really concerned by Argos' announcement. It would mean a loss of hundreds of jobs from Heywood.

"I don't understand their justification for putting their employees through this, especially during this cost of living crisis. People are already struggling to pay rising rents and bills, whilst Argos is making good profit.

"I've been proud to have Argos in my town for years, now I feel like they're letting us down. As a Heywood councillor and a Unite member, I'll work with colleagues to try to come up with a solution that preserves jobs and support employees in any way I can.

"The council's jobs and skills hub is already on standby to support in numerous ways, and I have spoken with Unite reps this morning [1 March] to offer our support."

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said: “As with any major change to our business, we have not taken the difficult decision to start this consultation lightly.

“As part of our plan to create a simpler business, we previously set out our intention to integrate our Argos and Sainsbury’s logistics networks. Over the last few years, we’ve been working hard to transform this network as we make our business simpler, more efficient and more effective for customers.

“This also allows us to reduce costs, so we can invest where it will make the most impact for our customers.

“We understand that this will be an unsettling time for affected colleagues, and we will support them however we can throughout this process. We will be consulting closely with unions and colleagues as we look to streamline the number of sites in our general merchandise logistics network.”