Sony has announced the proposed closure of its DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation) UK distribution site in Enfield, England.
Since the first plant opened in the early 1980s, Sony DADC has become one of the world's largest CD, DVD, UMD and Blu-ray disc manufacturers, primarily servicing Sony Music Entertainment-owned record labels.
In 2011, the North London warehouse was famously damaged by a fire, which destroyed around 25 per cent of Britain’s total stock of home entertainment discs. Seven years after its re-opening, the Enfield distribution centre could be set to close for good.
Such closure would invariably be a repercussion of the ever-growing consumption of music and video streaming and subsequent decline of physical media – as Sony recognises.
While other European Sony DADC plants in Austria, Czech Republic and Spain will remain open, the news comes just 17 months after Sony passed the manufacturing of audio discs from its Indiana, US centre – the very first plant it opened in 1983, and from which Sony's first disc, Bruce Springsteen's 1984 Born In The U.S.A album, came – to rival disc manufacturer CDA, Inc.
In a statement released to What Hi-Fi?, Sony said: "As consumer habits in the home entertainment market continue to evolve, Sony DADC in England announced its proposal to close its distribution site in Enfield, England.
This is at proposal stage at present and the company will consult fully with the affected employees and their appointed employee representatives on the proposal, including ways in which to support employees and mitigate the impact of the proposal.
Sony DADC will continue to remain a strong and reliable end-to-end services provider and partner for the home entertainment industry and beyond by utilising the combination of its existing operations network in Austria, Czech Republic and Spain, plus partnerships with other providers."
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