Smiths News' Major Investment

RNS Number : 9045J

Smiths News PLC

16 December 2008

 

Smiths News PLC

Smiths News' Major Investment in South Wales

Smiths News has further strengthened its position as the UK's leading newspaper and magazine wholesaler by investing over £1m in its new distribution centre in South Wales. 

On 15 December Smiths News opens its new flagship base in South Wales taking over the former 'LG Electronics' building at Imperial Park, Newport. The move will see the Company relocate its Cardiff and Bridgend business into the Newport super-centre by the end of February 2009.

Graeme Underhill, Operations Director at Smiths News, commented, 'Improving service for our retailers is a key priority for us.  The new facility has been designed with service efficiency, Health and Safety and process improvement at the heart of our plans.

We're delighted to be making this investment in Newport. This further demonstrates our commitment to the area and provides a fantastic place to work for our staff'.

Recycling and customer service will see real improvements at Smiths News' new Newport

distribution centre.  After successful trials at the Company's Plymouth site, Newport will be the second news and magazine wholesale house in the country to introduce a new process for recycling waste.  The new equipment stores waste in large 'walking floor containers' which has significantly reduced the number of vehicles required to collect waste.  Across both depots it will see collections over a year reduce by three quarters. 

The new customer service team at Newport will draw together all the local knowledge and expertise from across South Wales into one large team.  This will really benefit retailers who currently have to phone different departments dependent on the nature of their call.  From mid February there will be one team who will manage all retailer calls.

Kevin Clarke, Newport Group Manager said:

'It's really pleasing to see the plans for Smiths News' biggest site coming together. The new site gives real potential for growth, and of course we're thrilled to be able to make improvements to service that our retailers will really benefit from'.

Enquiries:

Smiths News Mark Cashmore, Chief Executive Alan Humphrey, Finance Director	Tel: [phone]
Buchanan Communications Tim Thompson / Jeremy Garcia	Tel: [phone]

About Smiths News

Smiths News is the UK's leading national wholesaler of newspapers and magazines. The company distributes more than 2,500 product lines on behalf of over 500 publishers to 22,000 retail customers across the UK. They deliver 1.6bn newspapers and 800m magazines a year and employ more than 4,000 employees across England and Wales.

 

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