Located less than one mile from its manufacturing site in Bicester, the 7,432m2 purpose-built facility boasts a capacity of more than 10,000 pallets and will be home to Bakels’ finished goods, freeing up space at the main site.
In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, Bakels has implemented the use of automatic very narrow aisle trucks to serve aisles designed for high-volume orders. Semi-automatic wide aisle trucks manage aisles for assembling mixed product orders.
‘Optimise service levels’
Bakels said: “Bolstered by a range of ride-on trucks, the state-of-the-art centre allows us to optimise service levels across our customer base and product range.”
The centre has the capacity for two additional office floors, offering Bakels the opportunity for future training and boardroom facilities to supplement the ones at its main site. The position of the centre provides Bakels with easy access to the national road network.
Commenting on the new distribution centre, managing director Paul Morrow said: “This is only the latest, although largest, investment Bakels has made since acquiring the site on Launton Road in 1986.
‘Centre of our UK operations’
“Our number of employees has risen from six in 1990 to 210 today. We are fully committed to Bicester as centre of our UK operations.”
The investment comes as analyst Kantar Worldpanel reported the bakery market returned to growth of 2.5%.
Meanwhile, a Northern Ireland bakery firm is to fast-track plans for a new factory after a “significant stake” of its business was bought by a US biscuit and pie maker.
Evron Foods Group will create employment for 50 people at the 4,180m2 production and innovation facility in Craigavon following the acquisition by Oklahoma-based Bama Companies.