Ocado is to build a 350,000 sq ft warehouse on a 35 acre site at IM Properties’ Birch Coppice site in Tamworth.
The site acquisition is expected to be in the region of £16.5m.
Funds for the facility have come from the company’s recent initial public offering. It raised about £200m from its initial public offering.
The money will also be used to pay down debt, and increase capacity in its existing distribution warehouse in Hatfield.
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Ocado was established in 2000 and operates a centralised distribution model from a purpose built distribution centre at Hatfield delivering more than 20,000 product lines including Waitrose and John Lewis-branded goods.
The John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, is supporting the initiative. Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose said: “For many years Waitrose and Ocado have a very strong, mutually beneficial commercial relationship based on a shared passion for high quality food, outstanding customer service and great value. We reinforced that relationship in May through signing a new ten year branding and sourcing agreement and we look forward to developing the relationship further in the coming years.’
* In April, Liza Helps, Logistics Manager’s contributing editor, property, reported that Ocado had short listed five sites for its new 400,000 sq ft bespoke RDC including IM Properties Birch Coppice in the West Midlands.
