Premium grocer Waitrose is to open a state-of-the-art national distribution centre (ND) at its Magna Park development in Milton Keynes.
According to the British retailer, The NDC will be the size of twelve Premiership football pitches and will handle the distribution of around 25,000 nationally available grocery and home department lines that can be found in Waitrose branches and on Waitrose.com.
“By simplifying our supply chain, we improve its resilience and greatly improve our ability to serve our branches now and in the future,” said David Jones, Waitrose supply chain director.
Waitrose ended its contract with Kuehne + Nagel at its Bardon regional distribution centre in January as it scaled up plans to deliver 38 shops throughout 2014 and expand its online platform.
The grocer shrugged off pressure from discounters to grow its market share to its highest ever level of 5%, according to Kantar.
The NDC will be developed by multi-national firm Gazeley, and will be ready by Summer 2015.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
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