Frozen food centre jobs are facing axe

Up to 250 jobs are at risk under plans to shut a frozen food distribution centre in the Black Country.

The Co-operative Group has announced its depot in Amber Way, Halesowen, will close in June 2012 .

Bosses said staff would be redeployed to other sites where possible but warned "some redundancies" were "likely". Deliveries from Halesowen will be transferred to The Co-operative Group's new regional distribution centres on Merseyside and in Hampshire.

A statement issued by the firm said: "Efforts will be made to redeploy the 250 staff where possible, including to other nearer depots, but it is likely that there will be some redundancies."

Bosses said the decision to close the Halesowen site had been made after a review of its distribution network following its acquisition of the Somerfield supermarket chain in 2009.

Mark Leonard, The Co-operative Group's regional head of logistics, said: "The acquisition of Somerfield meant we had to thoroughly review our distribution network nationwide, so we could continue to provide our enlarged store estate with an excellent service.

"This in no way reflects the commitment and hard work of staff at Halesowen, whose performance has been exemplary."

The firm has also announced the closure of its frozen food distribution centre in Norfolk with the loss of up to 90 jobs.

The depot, in Stephenson Way, Thetford, which serves Co-op food stores in East Anglia and the South East, will close in March 2012.

The £1.6 billion takeover deal saw the Co-operative Group taking on more than 650 Somerfield stores creating a chain of around 3,000 shops and giving it an eight per cent share in the grocery market. The Co-operative Group has an annual turnover of £14 billion, employs 120,000 staff and operates over 5,000 retail trading outlets serving more than 20 million customers per week.

Among its other businesses are The Co-operative Motor Group, The Co-operative Electrical and The Co-operative Legal Services.