Sainsbury’s cuts 1,400 warehouse jobs in £90m automation of logistics network

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Sainsbury’s will close two of its general merchandise depots affecting 1,400 jobs as it rolls out a £90m investment in automation to modernise its general merchandise logistics network.

The retailer said it would be consolidating five of its existing Sainsbury’s and Argos depots into three, closing two warehouses in Basildon and Heywood by 2026, and spending £90m on further automating an existing warehouse in Daventry.

Sainsbury’s said it had begun consulting with the 1,400 affected staff today, which includes both Sainsbury’s employees and those from third parties.

Staff would be offered the “opportunity to explore alternative roles within Sainsbury’s and Argos”, it said.

Alongside automating Daventry, Sainsbury’s said it would also expand its local fulfilment centre network across the UK, which “will create a simpler, more modern network to significantly improve availability, reduce stock and enable faster customer deliveries”.

The grocery giant also unveiled the creation of a Habitat digital showroom space, as part of its ongoing post-pandemic property portfolio review. The three remaining standalone Habitat stores will be closed by the end of this year.

Chief executive Simon Roberts 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.

“We are also announcing the significant investment we’re proposing to increase automation at our Daventry distribution centre. This combined with our ongoing plans to open more local fulfilment centres will help us better deliver for our customers in the future.”