To be built in Milton Keynes, the centre will be the size of 12 Premiership football pitches and is to open in summer 2015.
More than 25,000 nationally available lines will be delivered to Waitrose’s four regional distribution centres (RDCs) from the NDC – rather than being transferred between the RDCs – to simplify its supply chain and improve efficiency, said Waitrose.
‘Simplifying our supply chain’
David Jones, Waitrose supply chain director, said: “By simplifying our supply chain, we improve our resilience and greatly improve our ability to serve our branches now and in the future.”
The decision to build the centre also reflected the retailer’s growth, Jones said. “Waitrose has outperformed the market for five years and we have ambitious plans to open 38 shops in 2014 and continue to expand our online performance,” he added.
Online sales at Waitrose have rocketed over the years and the retailer reported a 60% increase in online sales in the week ending January 11 2014, with weekly sales climbing by 5.4%.
The NDC will be developed by logistics warehouse and distribution park developer Gazeley at its Magna Park site in Milton Keynes, which is based near the M1 and has planning permission to build facilities on more than 409,000m² of land.
409,000m² of land
But the build could see operations move from Waitrose’s current Milton Keynes-based Celestia depot, run by Kuehne + Nagel (K+N), to the national distribution centre. A consultation with K+N’s Celestia employees will be held over the next few months, said Waitrose.
The NDC will be Waitrose’s second big investment in its supply chain in as many years, following the opening of its frozen beef facility in summer 2013, in response to the horsemeat scandal.
The frozen beef facility was opened at Dovecote Park, which has supplied Waitrose with fresh beef products since 1997, and has allowed the retailer to manage all of its beef production processes at the site.
Meanwhile, food suppliers were warned by the European Food and Farming Partnerships to boost their supply chain efficiencies, following reports of a supermarket price war.