Marks & Spencer abandons plans for London Gateway distribution centre

May.23--BRITISH retail giant Marks & Spencer has announced it is abandoning plans to open a distribution centre at London Gateway, DP World's container port on the Thames estuary.

The retailer revealed the change after announcing a full-year pre-tax profit decline of 3.9 per cent, showing a third year of profit decline, which will cost directors and staff their bonuses.

An overhaul of M&S's supply chain is a key plank of CEO Marc Bolland's improvement strategy, reports the UK's Retail Week.

The M&S London Gateway project, unveiled with Prime Minister David Cameron in attendance last year, was to be the retailer's third big distribution centre as it remodelled logistics.

No reason was given, but it is understood that problems such as planning consents threatened to delay the project.

Rather than allow its strategy to be delayed, M&S decided to modify its plans, which will also save it GBP130 million (US$219 million).

M&S will now operate from its two new distribution centres in Bradford, and a dedicated ecommerce centre in Castle Donington in the Midlands, and four regional distribution centres will be upgraded,N all of which will create a so-called "single tier' network by 2016-2017.