Closures could hit BOC drivers
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• BOC drivers making deliveries to Marks & Spencer's European stores are waiting to hear their fate after the retailer announced it is to close all 18 of them. And as CM went to press on Tuesday (10 April) the situation became more confused when a French court ordered M&S to suspend the closures pending consultation with the unions—this is mandatory under French law.
M&S plans to close all its non-UK stores as part of a restructuring of the organisation that is designed to restore the fortunes of the troubled retail group.
Drivers at the Faversham depot, which services all M&S's northern Europe stores, have been warned that their trips across the Channel on M&S work are to cease.
"It's too soon to say how the closure will impact on our business. It is only a small part of our operation and we only deliver to the stores close to the UK. We've been told that the stores will be closing over the next few months; apart from that, we don't know too much more at this stage," says a BOC spokeswoman.
M&S is also closing a number of its UK stores—it remains to be seen how this will affect drivers' jobs.
• US computer giant Compaq Is also cutting 700 jobs at its factory in Erskine, Renfrewshire.
The company has decided to stop production of desktop and consumer computing products at the plant as part of a £.400m cost-cutting exercise.
Dumfriesshire haulier Currie European Transport handles a large amount of work for Compaq; sometimes as many as 30 loads in a weekend.
Currie declined to comment on how it will be affected by the cuts.