Home Bargains expansion will create 700 new jobs

Jan 16 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

A FAMILY business that started life at a single shop in Old Swan has been given the green light to build a massive new headquarters in Merseyside.

Discount chain Home Bargains, a TJ Morris company, will create 700 jobs at the Axis business park, Croxteth, as it builds a 10-storey distribution centre and retail training facility.

Tom Morris, MD of TJ Morris, opened the first store 30 years ago and younger brother Joe Morris was his Saturday help.

Today the business is growing faster than Matalan and Joe Morris told city planners at the Town Hall it was ranked as the third biggest grocer in the country.

Last night he told the Daily Post: “It’s good news for us and for Liverpool. We’ve grown up here and it allows us to keep our head office and our distribution base in the city.

“We’ve staff who have been with us for 30 years to help us grow the business.

“It’s nice to see a good vote of confidence for Merseyside businesses from the city council. It is a good sign for the city as a whole.”

He explained to planners that the firm had considered opening a second distribution centre in Ashby-De-La-Zouche, in the Midlands, instead of expanding in Liverpool.

“But what we decided to do is go for expansion. We’ve already invested £20m in the area and this will be another £25m.”

Mike Taylor, of Business Liverpool, has helped TJ Morris make its case.

He said: “There were a number of logistical reasons for the company to expand elsewhere – they are expanding in the south.

“Our role has been to translate their business needs into something planning and regeneration officers could understand.

“Their business success is quite extraordinary and it’s the type of business we need in the city.”

The approval means Home Bargains, which sells toiletries, cosmetics and household goods, can expand by a further 360 stores across the country to reach a turnover of up to £1 billion.

Council leader Warren Bradley wrote a letter of support for the company’s case and the scheme has had blanket approval from ward representatives.

But residents neighbouring the East Lancs Road site will be living in the shadow of a 30 metre high building, 24 hour traffic will have access to the site and the retail arm of the site could attract visitors.

To offset these issues, architect John Peck said, an 11 metre bank and fence would block most noise but the new build will be clearly visible in the area.

The training facility, which will be a live retail centre, will not be advertised in any way to minimise visitors seeking bargains.

Planning manager Nigel Lee summed up the council’s attitude toward the development.

He said: “This is a designated industrial area and has been a strategic investment area so the scale of a plant like this has always been envisaged in the area.”

It is hoped that the multi-million pound project will help regenerate the Croxteth area.

More stores in Liverpool are also now projected to complement those already operating in Belle Vale, Everton, Norris Green, Walton, Prescot, St Helens, Bootle, Kensington, Birkenhead and Skelmersdale.

richarddown