Morrisons recruits lorry drivers

Hundreds of lorry drivers are being recruited by supermarket Morrisons in preparation for the opening of a giant distribution depot in Kent.

The 920,000sq/ft Sittingbourne Regional Distribution Centre (RDC), which is near the M2, will be open in the autumn and is aiming to supply up to 65 stores. The site will comprise of two warehouses, which Morrisons says will service up to two million cases of produce, chilled foods, bread and groceries each week.

The supermarket has been advertising for 1,000 jobs at the depot, and CM understands that 220 of these will be drivers. Shortlisting is now being completed.

A spokesman says the RDC provides capacity for Morrisons, which has been growing very quickly: "The network was working close to its capacity. A big RDC in the South-East enables us to lower capacity in the rest of the business. It's not a question of replacing work, but easing some of the stress in the rest of the system."

Photo by Alex Segre / Rex Features.