255 jobs at risk as PRH UK proposes closure of warehouse

Tuesday, 8 December 2015 Books+Publishing

In the UK, Penguin Random House (PRH) is proposing to close its distribution centre in Rugby, potentially resulting in 255 job losses, reports the Bookseller. PRH said the move was made following ‘extensive strategic review’ and put the decision down to the decline in demand for physical books due to the rise of ebooks and the consolidation of publishers in the UK market, which has resulted in ‘over capacity’ at the warehouse. The 255 employees at the distribution centre in Central Park, Rugby have entered a period of consultation, with redundancies to be made in phases from May 2017 if the proposal is confirmed. PRH UK CEO Tom Weldon said, ‘Making this proposal has been a difficult but thoroughly considered and necessary action which we believe will enable us to align our service to market requirements.’ If the closure goes ahead, distribution would move to the company’s other distribution sites, with Penguin titles relocating to The Book Service (TBS) in Frating from 2017 and third party publishers moving to Grantham Book Service (GBS) in Grantham in 2016.

Category: International news