Yodel: 98 job losses at Leeds parcel firm

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Almost 100 workers at a Leeds delivery company are facing the axe.

Parcel giant Yodel wants to close its service centre – formerly DHL – on Bruntcliffe Industrial Estate, Morley, in the next six months.

It’s another huge blow for the city’s workers, coming just a week after the Yorkshire Evening Post revealed almost 90 workers at haulage firm Eddie Stobart were fighting for their livelihoods as the firm planned to close its Leeds depot.

Yodel’s plans mean the jobs of 98 permanent staff are now hanging in the balance – a 90-day consultation has started. The move will also affect a number of agency staff taken on at peak times.

It has a second centre just half a mile away at Gildersome Spur Industrial Estate and the firm – created through the merger of HDNL and DHL Domestic last year – said it does not need both.

Jonathan Smith, the company’s chief executive, said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly.”

He added: “We have been running two operational networks since early 2010 with limited flexibility and have now concluded the planning to move to one operation.”

He said Yodel was working with employees to “ensure a smooth transition”.

The firm is planning to slash its entire workforce, with plans to close 45 service centres across the country, as well as four of its eight national hubs.

One former employee at the threatened Morley base said his old workmates were “feeling down” about the news.

The Batley grandad said: “I think to quite a few of them it’s come as a bit of a shock.

“They suspected something might be happening – but not as drastic as this.”

He said most workers lived locally so the planned closure would make a big impact on the area and its families.