Major Eastbourne employer makes ‘difficult’ decision to temporarily close

Andrew Little, the owner of Gardners book wholesalers, issued a message to the public today (Monday) to say the warehouse in Whittle Drive, which employs around 900 members of staff, will be closed as of 10pm tomorrow (Tuesday).

Mr Little said in a statement, “Gardners warehouse operations will be suspended from 10pm on Tuesday (March 31). A number of key office staff will continue to work remotely from home after this time.

“It is with great sadness that we have taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend taking new orders for physical product at Gardners due to the current coronavirus pandemic, however our digital services to the trade will be unaffected.

“We will be working hard to clear all outstanding orders over the coming days, so any existing orders should be processed.

“We have continued over the past few weeks providing our usual high quality service to the book and entertainment trades around the world, however this is becoming increasingly more difficult as this crisis develops. The safety and well-being of our amazing workforce is the primary reason for making this decision.

“We will be looking to see what key services we can turn back on as soon as possible, and will be updating all our customers, suppliers and staff on regular basis as to the progress we are making.

“We hope you and your families are well and safe.”

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