Discount retailer Lidl has exchanged contracts with Sainsbury’s for a distribution warehouse site in Exeter, Devon.
Sainsbury’s secured planning on the site at Clyst Honiton near Exeter Airport, for a 500,000 sq ft facility in 2011 but announced in 2014 that the scheme would not go ahead as it would not be part of the company’s long term distribution network.
A number of potential occupiers were mooted for the site including Amazon but in a statement to the BBC, Sainsbury’s has said the scheme will now pass to Lidl with whom it has been in talks since the summer of 2015.
The original depot was supposed to be the first phase in the long-awaited Intermodal Freight Facility, known as Exeter Gateway.
“We are delighted to confirm plans to open a new distribution centre near Exeter, which marks yet another milestone in our ambitious expansion programme,” said Adrienne Howells, Lidl UK head of warehouse expansion. “This additional distribution centre will provide considerable investment in the local community and will service both existing and new stores in the South West.”
Adding:
“As the UK’s fastest growing supermarket*, we are constantly working to ensure that we have the infrastructure in place to deliver Lidl UK’s unique offering to our ever growing customer base, and we’re very much looking forward to this next phase of our growth.”
*Kantar Worldpanel, Novermber & December 2015
