Scotland’s United Wholesale Grocers (UWG) has completed the purchase of the Gateshead depot from Blakemore Wholesale, its first property into England.
The deal, which will retain all 45 existing members of staff, will see the depot in the north-east of England move to new ownership as of June 2018.
The move increases UWG’s depots to three, with the other two in Glasgow, and comes just under three months after Blakemore announced that it was looking to sell off its Wholesale business depots.
UWG managing director Amaan Ramzan, said: “At a time of consolidation and change in the sector, we have recognised the need to invest both in our business and the wholesale sector as a whole. We, like other Landmark members, are firmly focused on identifying opportunities for growth and this deal signifies a clear step forward in our plans for expansion. We have some incredibly exciting plans for the Gateshead depot which we will share in due course, and we look forward to taking over in June.”
John Mills, Landmark Wholesale managing director, said: “We are absolutely delighted that the Gateshead depot and all members of staff will remain within the Landmark family. We hope that other Blakemore depots will also be bought as going concerns, preferably by Landmark members or others in the wholesale sector.”
The move was unveiled at the Landmark Wholesale conference in Alicante, Spain.
For a full report and photos from the conference, check out the June issue of Better Wholesaling.
