Booker Retail Partners is to close its Andover distribution hub in Spring 2021 due to strong growth in its Budgens and Londis estate in the region.

The Andover Advertiser broke the news with a staff member telling the local news site that “possible redundancy is on the cards.”

A Booker spokesperson said retailers currently supplied by the Andover site will instead receive deliveries from Didcot, approximately 34 miles away from Andover.

The company said the lease on its Andover site had expired and “because Budgens and Londis are growing strongly we require more space”. Booker said stores would benefit as the Didcot site has ‘two and a half times more space, additional freezer capacity, and will support further growth opportunities.” The spokesperson added: “This will help enhance the service we provide to our retailers to help them grow and prosper in a challenging market.”

The leased site in Andover was absorbed by Booker Retail Partners as part of Booker’s acquisition of Musgrave Retail Partners in 2015.

The company confirmed some staff are at risk of redundancy and that a consultation process had begun. It is aiming minimise the numbers that lose their jobs through transferring them to other roles in the group.