Work to start on £70m mail centre in Northampton

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/ ... 4887595.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Published Date: 19 January 2009
Building work is about to start on a new hi-tech £70m mail centre in Northampton which will be ready for service in 2010.
A ceremony was due to take place today which will see the first spade break the ground, paving the way for the start of construction work on the new South Midlands Mail Centre at Swan Valley, close to junction 15a of the M1.

Royal Mail says the new depot will allow it to improve efficiency, give customers better value and provide its own workforce with a more modern environment to work in.

The company has also announced plans for a new delivery office to replace the site at Crow Lane, Northampton, and an overhaul of the town's St James Mill Road delivery office.

Area general manager for the Royal Mail Central and South Midlands, Ian Jones, said: "The new mail centre, which will combine our current Coventry, Northampton and Milton Keynes operations, is being built in Northamptonshire, due to the proximity to other Royal Mail distribution sites in the area.

"In a highly-competitive postal market, these plans will allow us to replace buildings which are not fit for a modern distribution company and replace them with purpose-built units, using the best technology available for the benefit of our customers and employees."

Staff in Northampton have been working out of a temporary depot in Crow Lane ever since the original sorting office in Barrack Road was destroyed in an arson attack in September 2003.

However, the project has come under fire from the Communication Workers' Union, who say it will hit its members in Coventry and Milton Keynes, whose depots will both close when the new Swan Valley facility opens in 2010.

Lee Barron, regional secretary of the CWU, said the union was working hard to secure an agreement which protected jobs and services in Milton Keynes and Coventry.

He said the merging of the centres could reduce the workforce from 1,800 to about 800 working solely in Northampton.

The CWU was also actively lobbying the East Midlands minister, Corby MP Phil Hope, for Government help in protecting postal services during the recession, he added.