As well as posting this on here,I will also post it on Mal’s Lorry Drivers Forum,as there are probably people on there,that don’t go on here,and vice versa.
I have been very reliably informed,that as of immediate effect,Kwik Save have ceased trading.The brand name Kwik Save,will disappear within 4 weeks.Somerfield stores are not affected.
This obviously has a lot of implications to a lot of people,including staff drivers of Exel and Wincanton,and also agency drivers who work for suppliers to Kwik Save,as well as the suppliers own drivers.
I am also informed that a buyer has bought 170 of the Kwik Save stores,out of the possible 350-400,and that it’s uncertain where these stores are.
I have friends that work at one of the DC’s at Sherburn-in-Elmet,who are now facing an uncertain future,as some of them have 15+ years service in.In fact it was one of those friends that has informed me as to what’s happening,after they had been briefed today.
I’m sure Bones,who works at the Sherburn site,will tell us anything else that has been missed off.
you beat me to it quinny ,am a tewkesbury driver and god knows whats going to happen it looks as wellingbourgh depots going all together ,bridgewaters safe as for ross, tewkesbury and the huntingdon depots its not looking good lets hope sommerfield work picks up
This was on the cards a while ago,and what Somerfield did,was to cherry pick the best Kwikies,and convert them to Somerfield,much in the way your suggesting.
I was delivering milk to the Gosforth store in Newcastle this morning,and they are lucky.They’re being converted,but what I was told,is that the staff didn’t find out,until they turned up for work this morning,that they had ceased trading.
i cant see any reason why huntingdon depot would close. they only service a small amount of them stores. and even if the others not on the list stores were sold off this would not affect huntingdon. it was just a somerfield depot before and no doubt will continue to do so.
the one thing i would say is that the recent advert for 75 drivers will probably be scrapped.
when i worked there i preferred it when it was just sommerfield. then it was 1 or 2 drops max.
with kwik save you have have upto 12 or 13 drops on the chill side. 2 cages here and 1 there.
Interesting to note that they quote the ex Asda guy in the report.
A good friend of mine is the manager of the Skegness Kwikies,and I was delivering there just recently,and he let me hear the voicemail message of Paul Mason,who quoted that exciting times were ahead.
Arrived at Kwik Save in Felling at 1.55pm and sat in car for 15 mins whilst a crowd waited outside the shop for the doors to be opened, then at 2.15pm Manager came out and said they had been told to shut up shop and would not be open at all for the rest of the day.
Ended up going to Co-op instead and standing in a long queue
A new firm has been set up for the purpose of acquiring KS -called DTTF or BTTF - or something like that to take on the majority of KS stores, and, it would seem Sherburn Depot. They are based in Huddersfield, but I don’t know anymore about them.
I read an internal statement last night which said there would be redundancies at Wellingborough. I don’t know whether they will keep it open or not.
As far as Huntingdon / Godmanchester is concerned - we don’t pick for KS stores anymore. For several months now KS lines have been stocked and picked at Sherburn. A few local stores were trunked down on the 'deckers for delivery by us. This would imply to me that this deal has been on the cards for a while.
As far as that ad for drivers goes - we are desperate for drivers. We have got so much work it is ridiculous, following the closure of Rainham. WGC goes any day… I don’t think Huntingdon / Godmanchester will be affected because we only deal with SF stores.
I am not certain how Tewkesbury, Ross on Wye and Bridgwater will be affected. I know that Lea Green used to do lots for KS stores, so would imagine that they stand to lose a lot of work.
I think thats what happened to Morrisons/safeway…they wanted to pick the best and close the rest …only government said they couldnt until they had re-furbished and changed the name to morrisons…anyway i suppose its all down to marketing and a clever ploy to keep their own name on top…competition is whats its called…and not necessarily what the public want…in all honesty i prefer kwik Save to Summerfield…
i drive for somerfield out of lea green.
the briefing we got yesterday was that the remaining kwik saves (about 180) that somerfield didn’t want have been sold off,along with the sherburn depot,to carry on trading as kwik save.
the speculation at the moment is that the somerfields on that side of the country will be serviced by the remaing depots.
Can I take it that you mean Lea Green and Huntingdon will serve the East side of the Pennines Somerfields,and Sherburn will just serve Kwik Save?
My mate works at Sherburn along with Bones who posts on here,and like he says,there are so many rumours at the moment,no-one knows what’s happening.
If it goes like you say,then to run to the NE from Lea Green,would entail the trailer to be full,otherwise it won’t pay,as the cost of the diesel alone will be astronomical,likewise running from Huntingdon to say,Grimsby will be the same. (Although we used to do Barrow-in-Furness from Sherburn,as well as Egremont and Whitehaven while Lea Green was being built.)
Also,Sherburn to serve just Kwik Save,will probably mean nights out for the remaining drivers,as the 170 that this consortium have bought,will be all over the country,and not just in one area.
(Although Sainsbury’s have just recently closed Rotherham,and run the old areas from other depots.)
What I do know,is that upon their return yesterday,10 drivers were told not to diesel their vehicles up,as they were going straight away.Where to,I don’t know.(I wonder if one of them was my old one? Y674 XBV.)
just popped into our local kwik save … hull preston road and yes they are closing but will be a nettos store in april all the staff are to keep there jobs
the mood today at tewkesbury was mixed some saying this can only mean bad news others saying we are going to be rushed of our feet i think that its going to be ok covering the stores that lea green do around birmingham to allow them to consentrate on sherburns s’ field stores ,like wise i think we will cover the stores sherburn cover in the east midlands we often cross each others paths anyway, i wish all sherburn drivers luck in the future i have spent a bit of time up ther doing trunking to tewkesbury and there a good bunch
Quinny:
If it goes like you say,then to run to the NE from Lea Green,would entail the trailer to be full,otherwise it won’t pay,as the cost of the diesel alone will be astronomical,likewise running from Huntingdon to say,Grimsby will be the same. (Although we used to do Barrow-in-Furness from Sherburn,as well as Egremont and Whitehaven while Lea Green was being built.)
We used to do Hull and Grimsby. It might seem a lot of money spent to run that far, but I suppose compared to the cost of running Sherburn - it’s a drop in the well.
Quinny:
I can see this getting very messy.
You and me both pal. I’ve got a few days off work now. God knows what will be happening when I get back.
