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Waitrose to open first national distribution centre at its Magna Park development in Milton Keynes in Summer 2015

Bracknell, UK, 2014-3-18 — /EPR Retail News/ — Waitrose is to open a state-of-the-art national distribution centre (NDC) to be developed by Gazeley at its Magna Park development in Milton Keynes in Summer 2015.

The retailer is in talks to transfer the operation at the nearby Kuehne+Nagel-run Celestia depot – which services Waitrose – to the national distribution centre. TUPE is expected to apply, and, over the next few months, consultation will begin with K+N employees at Celestia.

The NDC, which will be the size of twelve Premiership football pitches, 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.

The NDC will deliver the national lines via Waitrose’s four regional distribution centres [RDCs]. It also simplifies the supply chain and improves the efficiency of handling nationally available lines that have historically had to be sent between RDCs. This enables more sustainable growth.

David Jones, Waitrose Supply Chain Director, said:

‘The decision to open our first National Distribution Centre marks a pivotal moment in our supply chain history and reflects our phenomenal growth. Waitrose has outperformed the market for five years and we have ambitious plans to open 38 shops in 2014 and continue to expand our online platform.

‘By simplifying our supply chain, we improve its resilience and greatly improve our ability to serve our branches now and in the future.’

Notes to editors
Waitrose – Waitrose, Britain’s favourite supermarket*, has 307 shops in the UK and Channel Islands and has consistently achieved sales growth significantly ahead of the market**. Its strong performance has been driven by the success of the essential Waitrose range, Brand Price Match, the success of the myWaitrose card and free delivery for online shopping, as well as a long-term commitment to sourcing the UK’s finest local and regional foods. Waitrose combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop – dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly sourced combined with high standards of customer service.
* Favourite Food & Grocery Retailer at Verdict’s annual Consumer Satisfaction Awards; Favourite Supermarket at Good Housekeeping Awards
** Kantar Worldpanel

About Gazeley – Gazeley, a leading global investor and developer of sustainable logistics warehouses and distribution parks, is part of the Brookfield Property Partners Group and, along with Industrial Developments International (IDI), based in Atlanta GA, forms a global industrial platform.

Gazeley has operational platforms in the UK, Asia, and Continental Europe and, through IDI, North America. It is one of the world’s longest running developers of high quality, cost effective ‘Build-to-Suit’ logistics warehouses that accommodate many of the world’s leading brands and largest companies.

Its customers from across the retail/FMCG, transport and logistics, industrial, pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors and include Walmart, P&G, Amazon, adidas, John Lewis, Tesco, H&M, DHL and Volkswagen.

In partnership with IDI, Gazeley currently owns and operates a combined global industrial property portfolio comprising of approximately 68 million sq ft of occupied industrial warehouse space with an additional 79 million sq ft of assets under development. To date the company has developed in excess of 75 million sq ft of sustainable warehouse space for over 130 customers worldwide and currently controls a land-bank of 1,050 hectares.

Gazeley is among the foremost pioneers of environmentally sustainable warehouse development and is committed to delivering high quality buildings that are cheaper to operate and maintain, that also meet and exceed the world’s most stringent sustainable development standards.

For more information, please visit the Gazeley website (www.gazeley.com).

You can follow Gazeley on Twitter: http://twitter.com/GazeleyGlobal

Enquiries
For further information please contact:

Rob Cadwell
Senior Press Officer, Waitrose
Telephone: 01344 826182
Email: rob_cadwell@waitrose.co.uk

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