T&B lands MB deal
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• The Tibbett & Britten Group has bought part of Transfleet Services, strengthening its links with retail giant Marks & Spencer.
Transfleet, jointly owned by Lex Service and Lombard North Central, has a regional distribution centre (RDC) at Exeter dedicated to M&S.
The £5.3m cash deal will be completed in the first week of August, when Tibbett & Britten will take over Transfleet Services' Exeter operation, offering jobs to the 180 existing staff.
"This is a one-off thing," says TBG's clothing and textiles division chairman Bob Vickers. "Transfleet did not see the Marks & Spencer contract as part of its core business, which is vehicle rental and leasing. They offered it to us and we
were happy to take it," he says. TBG is also taking over distribution of non-food merchandise to all M&S retail stores in the South-West.
The Exeter RDC is a 11,700ff site and TBG has acquired the building, the leasehold interest in the land, plant, equipment and vehicles.
Exeter is the group's fourth dedicated Marks & Spencer RDC, the others are in Long Eaton, Tunbridge Wells and West Thurrock — the centres currently service 67 Marks & Spencer stores.
TBG is pushing hard to establish a dominant position in the clothes distribution sector. "This represents a further reinforcement of UK core activities as, last month, we acquired the goodwill, 57 vehicles and other assets of Scorpio International — another specialist clothing carrier," says TBG chairman John Harvey.
The company's turnover in 1990 was £156m, following a 20% annual growth every year since 1985.