Automated cold storage specialist, NewCold, which calls the site Europe’s largest ‘deep freeze’, said it started work on the development in late 2020 on the former steelworks land in Corby. The operation will enable NewCold to offer their services to customers further afield than its current site in Wakefield that may not be geographically well-situated or who have run out of space.
When fully operational the site will employ more than 250 people with automation playing a key part in the facility’s operation NewCold said.
Demand
Ross Hunter, supply chain director, said: “Since opening our first UK site in Wakefield seven years ago, we have seen an increase in demand for our warehouse and transport services and although the Wakefield facility is the largest of its kind in the country, handling 4,000,000 pallets annually and storing 143,000 at any given time, demand has outstripped supply.”
The company said it has focused on sustainability at both the Wakefield and Corby sites with its cold store design – which uses around 50% less energy than conventional stores – coupled with its ability to reduce food miles by using high-volume trailers.
Hunter added: “The decision to build a second facility has been driven by an increasing wide-scale demand for storage and handling, while the number of deep-frozen storage facilities has reduced. This has seen cold stores at capacity during certain times over the last two years and the trend appears to be continuing, so we feel this is the right time to invest.”
Cold chain
NewCold Advanced Cold Logistics which has headquarters in the Netherlands, operates from fourteen locations on three continents.
It offers integrated cold chain logistics service for food manufacturers and retailers in the major European countries by building a series of state-of-the-art cold stores in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland, USA and Australia.
