Shop Direct to open new fulfilment centre in East Midlands

Shop Direct, the UK’s second largest pureplay digital retailer, has confirmed that it will be exiting its existing fulfilment sites in Greater Manchester from mid-2020 to a new, upgraded 500,000 square foot distribution and returns centre in the East Midlands.

Development of the site at East Midlands Gateway will begin in May and the group plans to begin exiting its existing fulfilment sites in Greater Manchester from mid-2020, with the new site expected to be fully operational by peak 2021.

The move is part of Shop Direct’s plans to upgrade its fulfilment capabilities by creating an automated centre and is expected to impact 1,177 permanent Shop Direct colleagues and 815 agency colleagues, with redundancies expected as a result of the site closures.

As part of an 18-month project, Shop Direct reviewed its fulfilment sites at Shaw, Little Hulton and Raven, and concluded that limited accessibility, layout and loading restrictions, coupled with a lack of space, mean that these centres won’t meet the group’s future operational ambitions.

To continue to meet customer demand, the group has stated that it needs a new, purpose-built and automated facility in a “central, well-connected location, that can accommodate all one-man fulfilment and returns operations on one site”, and that can also provide room for continued expansion with the retail group.

Shop Direct to relocate distribution and returns centre from Greater Manchester to East Midlands

The site’s position in the East Midlands, is adjacent to the M1 and East Midlands Airport, and even has its own rail freight terminal, which Shop Direct states will enable it to increase its cut-off time for next day delivery to midnight from the current 7pm, as well as to explore the introduction of same day delivery in the future.

Approximately 500 permanent roles will be created at the new site, and this is expected to increase by an additional 200 to 300 agency colleagues during peak periods.

Derek Harding, interim group chief executive of Shop Direct, said: “This is a tough day for the business and we know how difficult this news will be to hear for our teams in Shaw, Little Hulton and Raven. However, these proposals are necessary for our future and to enable us to continue to grow and meet rising customer expectations.

“We take very seriously our responsibilities to our colleagues, many of whom have been with us for a long time and who work tirelessly to deliver for our customers. We are working alongside Usdaw, our recognised trade union, and will listen carefully to what they have to say. We’ll also work closely with local authorities and community leaders to make sure this process is carried out as fairly and sensitively as possible for our colleagues.”

Shop Direct is the UK’s second largest pureplay online retailer, with annual sales of 1.93 billion pounds. Its digital department store brands are Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com, VeryExclusive.co.uk and Littlewoods.ie, which receive an average of 1.3 million website visits every day, with over two-thirds (69 percent) of the groups sales being completed on mobile devices.

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Images: courtesy of Very