METRO ADVERTISING discontinues business activities at the end of the year

METRO ADVERTISING is no longer part of METRO's core business. In addition to individual METRO companies, the company provides its services to around 20 external customers, most of which are active in the retail sector. The largest customer Real has recently ceased to exist due to insolvency.

Those METRO companies that currently rely on the services of METRO ADVERTISING - including METRO Germany - will continue to digitalise their customer communications. The sourcing and production of advertising material and print products to the extent still required will be carried out exclusively by external service providers in future.

With 67 employees, METRO ADVERTISING currently specialises in print production management, paper procurement, media planning and distribution and has locations in Düsseldorf (49 employees) and Warsaw (18 employees). Both locations will cease their business activities within METRO at the end of 2024.

METRO ADVERTISING is parting ways with its employees within the framework of socially acceptable solutions. METRO ADVERTISING trainees will be offered the opportunity to complete their training at another METRO company.

Guillaume Deruyter, member of the Management Board and CCMO responsible for METRO ADVERTISING, explains: "The METRO ADVERTISING team has built up a high level of expertise in the area of advertising processes, production and sourcing, which is also reflected in the loyalty of external customers. So, if we are now discontinuing this activity, it is solely because it has no future within the framework of our focused wholesale strategy. Alternatively, we have also looked into selling the business in order to preserve jobs. However, this was not successful in a difficult market environment. We would like to thank the management and employees for their dedicated work for our company and wish them every success for the future. We would like to thank METRO ADVERTISING's customers, who will receive the agreed service until the end of the year, for their trust."

METRO is a leading international food wholesaler which specialises in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants, and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent merchants (Traders). Around the world, METRO has approx. 15 million customers who benefit from the wholesale company’s unique multichannel mix: customers can purchase their goods in one of the large stores in their area as well as by delivery (Food Service Distribution, FSD) – all digitally supported and connected. In parallel, METRO MARKETS is being developed as an international online marketplace for the needs of professional customers which has been growing and expanding continuously since 2019. Acting sustainably is one of the company principles of METRO which has been listed in various sustainability indices and rankings, including MSCI, Sustainalytics and CDP. METRO operates in more than 30 countries and employs over 89,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2022/23, METRO generated sales of €30.6 billion. More information can be found at MPULSE.de, our online magazine.