Staff at JCB warehouse refusing to work in Derbyshire will lose jobs in 43 days

Transport workers at a JCB warehouse have been told their jobs are being moved 49 miles away to Derbyshire - from next month. They are the first victims of JCB's decision to shut its Tunstall World Logistics warehouse - on Lowlands Road, in Tunstall - from next year.

The digger giant is opening a bigger warehouse at East Midlands Gateway Logistics Park - which is near the M1 and East Midlands Airport - after outgrowing the Tunstall logistics hub which has been open for a decade. It means up to 200 warehouse and transport workers currently based in Tunstall will have a daily commute to and from Derbyshire - or lose their jobs.

One worker told StokeonTrentLive: "Further to the announcement last week, the HGV drivers have now been told they will have no job here from 21 June. The operation will move and for almost all of them the new location is too far to travel. Six weeks notice after in some cases 11 years service. It is a disgrace."

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The transport team had been fearing the worst following a series of meetings at the warehouse last week. The number of affected transport staff has not been disclosed.

A briefing note seen by StokeonTrentLive stated: "The World Logistics transport team will continue to be employed by Unipart. The transport team will be consulted about relocation."

The transport operation is run by Unipart. It signed a five-year contract in 2022 to run warehouse and transport operations from the Tunstall factory.

It has started a 30-day consultation with its transport staff and workers will no longer be based in Tunstall from June 21.

A Unipart spokesman said: “We have entered a 30-day consultation period with our transport team following the decision to transfer transport operations from the World Logistics site in Stoke-on-Trent to the East Midlands Gateway Logistics Park from 21 June."

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