New Look for Wincanton

By Carol Millett and Chris Tindall

Wincanton has replaced Clipper Logistics on a major supply chain contract with fashion retailer New Look.

The move will come as a blow to Clipper – now part of GXO Logistics UK – and comes only four days after Wincanton also secured a five-year extension to its deal with Waitrose.

The three-year contract with New Look begins in July and will see Wincanton manage transport services from the retailer’s distribution centre in Newcastle-underLyme, replenishing stock at 400 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Wincanton will also support New Look’s click-and-collect delivery services, which have grown from 17% in early 2021 to 31%, and use its Winsight technology to help deliver accurate, real-time visibility on stock location, proof of delivery and optimisation of routes.

However, Wincanton’s successes come during a turbulent period, which has seen it lose two major contracts to Culina Group in the wake of a profit warning last month, triggered by the loss of a deal with HMRC to French firm Sodexo.

In the first of these, Morrisons terminated its £70m-a-year transport contract with Wincanton “with immediate effect” and handed the entire operation over to Stobart, a year earlier than its original agreed length.

Morrisons confirmed “all logistics transport operations in Stockton, Wakefield, Gadbrook and Willow Green will move to Eddie Stobart, part of the Culina Group.

“The planning operations teams in these sites will transfer back to Morrisons,” it said.

“We will support the TUPE process alongside Eddie Stobart and Wincanton for the transport and planning teams.”

In Wincanton’s financial results for 2020, the 3PL said revenue in its retail grocery division had increased by 26% partly due to the Morrisons deal, as well as new wins with Co-op and Sainsbury’s.

Five days later, Wincanton also lost a major transport contract with cereal giant Weetabix to Culina Group subsidiary Great Bear.

The third-party ambient logistics specialist said the award of the Weetabix contract is a “significant win” for the company and a testament to its customer service levels.

The two-year deal sees a team from the ambient food haulier operating from the Weetabix site in Burton Latimer. The contract includes factory clearance from Weetabix factories to the Burton Latimer warehouse, and all secondary work in the UK. n Northern Ireland-based Culina Group subsidiary Morgan McLernon has announced it has landed a major ‘multi-million pound’ contract. Culina has also appointed John Kerrigan to lead the company, in addition to his role as chief executive of Culina subsidiary Fowler Welch.