Gem moves in with Micro P

The UK arms of Irish distributor Sharptext, Micro Peripherals and Gem have merged their logistics and warehouse facilities under one roof.

As part of the consolidation, the two distributors will have one facility based in Altham, Lancashire. The 70,000 sq ft site is expected to be up and running on 1 July.

But the move has meant that Gem has had to make some redundancies. Paul Donnelly, Gem?s MD, admitted that some staff did not want to make the move from its existing site in Harlow to move to Altham, but he denied that the redundancies were as high as the industry estimates of 70.

?We have grown significantly in the last couple of years and we have outgrown our facility. This way we can become the distributor of choice by ensuring a high level of service,? said Donnelly.

He said the facility will enable Gem to be better equipped to deliver product on time with the correct invoices, as well as to handle returns effectively.

The sales and marketing directors of Gem will remain at the existing Harlow offices.

Micro P has traditionally outsourced its warehousing and logistics into a separate site based in Basingstoke but will now move to the shared base. Both distributors will have dedicated managers working on behalf of their customers.

Gem has been appointed as Tesco?s exclusive software supplier this week as the superstore chain looks to move into selling software. The move follows the company?s appointment as primary distributor for GT Interactive products.