UP TO 60 jobs could be axed at the Plymouth base of the UK's leading newspaper and magazine wholesaler.
Smiths News is moving its magazine packing division from its Plympton premises to its distribution centre in Newport, Wales, as part of a wider "rationalisation plan" being carried out.
The company has begun consultation with 60 staff at its Langage Industrial Estate site, though stressing it will not be shutting that Western Wood Way operation from where newspapers are also distributed.
The firm said it will continue to employ about 60 staff in its "Plymouth group" plus a number of self-employed drivers.
This "group" also includes operations in Barnstaple, Taunton, Exeter and Redruth, where some of those workers are located.
The proposed job losses come just days after one of Plymouth's largest private sector employers, luxury boat maker Princess Yachts International plc, announced it was cutting 350 jobs as it "restructured" in light of global economic turmoil.
A spokesperson for Smiths News told The Herald: "We have commenced a period of consultation with 60 employees at our Plymouth distribution centre this week around a proposal to move our magazine packing operation to our Newport distribution centre – which is part of our broader rationalisation plan for the business.
"It is too early to confirm what the outcome of that consultation would be but if the proposal goes ahead then some redundancies are unfortunately likely."
The spokesperson added: "Plymouth is an important location for distributing newspapers to our customers in the South West and this side of the operation would remain at our site here in Langage Industrial Estate.
"We do not have any plans to change the operations in our smaller Newspaper Distribution Centres in the South West – they are not impacted by this proposal.
"These decisions are never taken lightly and our focus is on supporting the individuals affected by this announcement.
"In the event of redundancies, we will work with our employees to maximise their prospects of re-deployment."
Working with all major national and regional publishers, Smiths News distributes a diverse range of print media to 30,000 customers.
These range from large general retailers to smaller independent newsagents. It has a large "geographical footprint" of distribution centres throughout the country.
The business traces its roots back to 1792 when Henry Walton Smith set up his first paper round.
That went on to become high street newsagent WH Smith, from which Smiths News de-merged as a logistics and distribution company in 2006.
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