200 jobs go as City Link closes

Two hundred jobs have been axed in the closure of a landmark parcel delivery base in the Black Country, it was revealed today.

The 150,000 sq ft City Link depot on the Black Country Route, on the Willenhall/Darlaston border, was being wound down today after parcel deliveries switched to a depot in Coventry last week.

Just a handful of the 500 people who once worked at the site remained there today.

Around 200 have been found jobs elsewhere, at other City Link depots such as the one at Kidderminster or with other businesses run by parent company Rentokil Initial.

Another 100 jobs have gone as staff left following the closure announcement six months ago - 60 staff took voluntary redundancy - or as temporary contract workers were not replaced.

Rentokil Initial spokesman Malcolm Padbury said today: "It has been a tough decision."

City Link has been making losses since the botched takeover of Coventry-based parcels delivery group Target Express in 2006.

A massive turnaround plan has cut losses to £4.7 million in the last six months and the business is expected to return to profit by the end of the year.

City Link managing director Stuart Godman, said today the site had closed ahead of schedule. The early closure was due to the dedication and commitment of employees, he said.

In recent months another six of the 84 City Link depots nationwide have been axed as part of a £15 million cost-cutting programme.

Across Rentokil Initial, £40 million of costs have been cut so far this year, helping boost pre-tax profits by 39 per cent to £77 million, despite a drop in revenues to £1.23 billion.

The group, which employs 68,000 people worldwide, has 650 staff at three businesses at Dudley's Castlegate Park. Mr Padbury said results at all three had been "extremely positive" in recent months.