M&S is expanding its Bradford distribution centre to include a second online warehouse for the business, creating 300 new jobs as a result.
The DC originally opened in 2019 and currently delivers clothing and food to M&S stores in partnership with XPO.
The new investment uses existing vacant space to support its Castle Donington online warehouse which opened in 2012, as well as its instore pick model.
The new warehouse follows a successful trial over Christmas, during which time Bradford’s colleagues manually picked product from the existing automated distribution centre to service online orders.
The building of the new warehouse is to due to complete later this year, allowing it to be operational by Christmas. It will originally aim to dispatch 35,000 items a day, increasing capacity over time. The warehouse will support boxed products, from bras and belts, and it’s hoped it will eventually support around 20% of M&S online orders.
Paul Babbs, director of supply chain and logistics at M&S said: “We’re reengineering our supply chain to ensure we can deliver our Never the Same Again programme – including increased online capacity. Working closely with XPO we’re investing in Bradford which has been selected for its central UK location, the space available and most importantly because it’s our most automated site which is crucial for an efficient supply chain.”
