Waitrose To Build National Distribution Centre In Milton Keynes

Premium grocer Waitrose is to open a state-of-the-art national distribution centre (ND) at its Magna…

Premium grocer Waitrose is to open a state-of-the-art national distribution centre (ND) at its Magna Park development in Milton Keynes in Summer 2015.

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,” commented 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 in 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 per cent, according to Kantar.

The NDC will be developed by multi-national firm Gazeley.