A week after Shop Direct announced the planned closure of three of its warehouses in Greater Manchester, Marks & Spencer has announced that its Hardwick distribution centre (DC) on Hardwick Grange, near Warrington is to close. The DC, which serves stores in the north west and Scotland, will close in September. Marks & Spencer announced that it would cease operations at its Neasden, North London distribution centre in January. The move is part of the company's plans to create a single-tier clothing and home logistics network which will allow it to move products from suppliers to stores faster and at lower cost through a smaller network of large DCs, strategically placed across the UK.