Comment: Expansion plan a welcome move

Dec 12 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

IT’S great news that retail chain Home Bargains plans to create up to 700 new jobs at its Liverpool- based head office. Nevertheless, that joy comes with an important caveat – it depends on the firm winning planning approval for an extension to its premises at the city’s Axis Business Park.

The discount chain, owned by the TJ Morris group, is creating the jobs after changing its mind about an original plan to expand its capacity by opening a second distribution centre in the Midlands.

Instead, TJ Morris, which sells toiletries, cosmetics and household goods, has opted for a single warehouse and head office operation in Liverpool, even though it is not the cheapest option for the business.

The firm is currently "bursting at the seams" at its headquarters on the East Lancs Road, at Gillmoss, where it emp- loys 400 staff. The expansion would take the headcount at its head office to 1,100.

The £35m extension to its head office is part of an expansion plan that will see the group grow to a chain of 350 stores around the country by the year 2017.

This is a great success story for the firm, which began in humble fashion 30 years ago when founder Tom Morris opened his first store in Old Swan.

But its expansion plans are an even greater tribute to the firm’s desire to stay in the city where it was born and bred, as a consultant’s report found that opening a second distribution centre in the Midlands would cost £3.4m less because it would be closer to more stores.

A planning application to extend TJ Morris’s premises has been submitted to Liverpool City Council, and the result is expected in mid-January.

In the light of this vote of confidence in the city, it behoves Liverpool’s planning authority to ensure consent is granted for this expansion to take place.

The company director, Joe Morris, has already made it clear that it would have to revert to its original plan and move to the Midlands if permission was not granted.