PlumbCentre_PA

Plumbing and heating supplier Wolseley UK plans to close its Worcester DC to make £30m of savings.

The reorganisation of its logistics and supply chain network, as well as the closure of 80 UK branches, will result in 800 redundancies.

MD Patrick Headon said: “The trends in our profit have been disappointing and we need to take action to improve our customer proposition and the efficiency of our business.”

The company said a review had “identified an opportunity to drive efficiencies and lower our cost base to strengthen the business”.

It added that a feasibility assessment will take place and that any reorganisation could be completed within a couple of years, resulting in lower overall capacity requirements in its supply chain.

Closing the Worcester DC would mean that the remaining 730 branches are served by its three remaining depots in Melmerby, Milton Keynes and Measham.

Wolseley UK, which owns brands including Plumb Centre (pictured) is understood to rely on its in-house haulage, which it described as “one of the country’s largest fleets of specially-designed commercial vehicles”.