UPDATE: South Normanton firm closure WILL end in redundancies

Pharmaceutical company Alliance Heathcare, part of the Boots group, has confirmed it is closing its site near Alfreton and will be cutting staff.
Alliance Healthcare's distribution centre near South Normanton (Image: Google)Alliance Healthcare's distribution centre near South Normanton (Image: Google)
Alliance Healthcare's distribution centre near South Normanton (Image: Google)

Claims were first made that the Service Centre between Sutton and South Normanton is set to close and while some members of staff will move to their operation in Nottingham, the 'majority' of jobs will be axed.

The company has now said employees will be 'impacted', and some will be able to move to other sites, but not all. It is unknown how many employees will be affected.

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The distribution arm of the pharmaceutical wholesaler is part of the Boots group of companies and after merging with an American firm in 2014 is now owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Toby Carpenter, HR Director, Alliance Healthcare UK said: "An opportunity has been identified to make a number of changes to our distribution network, mainly at South Normanton and Nottingham.

"Impacted employees are now entering into a consultation process. In an effort to retain talent, there will be opportunities for some impacted employees to continue their employment at an alternative site within Walgreens Boots Alliance businesses located in the East Midlands, where we are a large employer.

"We will be working closely with our teams to ensure any impact to jobs is as minimal as possible, but until the consultation process is complete, we are not in a position to confirm exact numbers impacted.

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"These changes reflect our commitment to service excellence, and to ensure that our business is fit to meet the future needs of our customers, and their patients, by creating a faster and more effective supply chain of pharmaceutical and healthcare products from manufacturer to patients.

"To ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers, and to ensure long-term business growth, it is essential to regularly review and assess where further improvements and investment could be made to our UK supply chain.

"We are working closely with our customers and employees through the proposal phase of this project and, in the meantime, we remain focused on business as usual."

Scott Knowles of the East Midlands Chamber said: “It’s never nice to hear about redundancies or people being laid off or otherwise losing their jobs but sometimes businesses have to make difficult decisions.

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“If the loss of some jobs means others are safeguarded and the position of the company is strengthened then you have to take the view that the decision to safeguard those jobs and protect the company for the longer-term is the right thing to do.

“When the company is strong there is always at least a hope that at a later date it could reinstate some of those lost positions.”