Yodel centres to close in region

PARCEL delivery company Yodel is to close 45 of its 102 service centres across the UK, including three in Yorkshire.

The three Yorkshire centres to close in the New Year are in Hull, Scunthorpe and Leeds.

“This will obviously result in a level of redundancies across the business,” the company said.

“We are currently discussing all options available with affected colleagues and the unions as part of the consultation process,” a spokesperson added although he would not confirm how many jobs would be affected.

The move follows the company’s acquisition of DHL’s UK domestic business-to-business and business-to-consumer operations early last year.

Then, it said the acquisition of DHL Domestic would give the combined businesses annual sales of more than £600m and take its market share to around 17%.

The company, which re-branded from Home Delivery Network last May and is owned by the Barclay brothers, has said it wants to “move to a single operating platform that will enable the company to operate profitably”.

Following the closures, to take place in the first quarter of 2012, 57 service centres will remain.

Jonathan Smith, chief executive, said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We have to make these changes to meet the needs of our customers and create a sustainable and profitable business model.

“We have been running two operational networks since early 2010 with limited flexibility. Having concluded the planning process we are now able to communicate how we will move to one operation.”