Job losses at Arrow Microtronica

Employees at UK logistics hub await their fate as firm moves to a central European distribution model

Employees at Arrow Microtronica’s UK logistics business are undergoing a consultation process as the firm centralises its European warehouse operations in a drive for growth.

In a letter to customers leaked to CRN, Les Billing, managing director at the firm revealed it was moving to a centralised pan-European model with inventory held in a 300,000-plus sq ft warehouse in Holland, which will handle the whole of the EMEA region. This will result in the closure of the firm’s Bedford-based warehouse and the loss of some jobs.

The letter said the move would enable Arrow Microtronica to ‘better utilise the considerable economy of scale available from the core Arrow organisation developing and delivering better pan-European programmes and services for customers’.

In a further statement the letter said: “We regret that inevitably these changes will result in some job losses in the UK that we will minimise and handle professionally and sensitively while working with staff affected to find new positions inside and outside of Arrow.”

Resellers will not notice any difference in their dealings with Arrow Microtronica, the letter claimed.