British household name Marks & Spencer (M&S) is to invest £340 million in the development of an advanced automated distribution centre for its food business.
The move, which marks the largest ever investment in the company’s supply chain, aims to support its ambition to double the size of M&S Food.
The new 1.3 million sq. ft facility, which will be based in Northamptonshire, is set to open in 2029.
The depot will include an automated pallet crane for handling long-life ambient products, a high-speed shuttle system for sorting and storing stock, and a hands-free picking solution that loads items directly onto store-ready delivery cages.
The announcement follows news earlier in the year for the opening of a 390,000 sq. ft M&S distribution centre at Avonmouth in Bristol, serving stores in the Midlands, South-west England and South Wales.
According to M&S, the construction phase of the new Northamptonshire site will create over 2,000 jobs, with around 1,000 permanent roles once the site is fully operational, covering driving, logistics, management and more technical roles such as automation technicians.
The new site is also expected to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating – placing it in the top one per cent of sustainable buildings globally and becoming M&S’ flagship Plan A warehouse.
M&S’ Plan A is the retailer’s roadmap initiated in 2007 to become a zero-emission company along the entire value chain by 2040.
“We’re transforming M&S into a destination for the weekly shop and modernising our supply chain is central to that ambition,” said Alex Freudmann, managing director, M&S Food. “This investment will boost capacity for future growth, lower our cost to serve over the long-term, and improve product availability – ensuring customers find the right products in the right place at the right time.”
He went on to say that the new site would strengthen the company’s network and help it “get head of the volume curve” as it grows M&S Food.
The announcement comes as M&S continues to prioritise supply chain, store rotation and renewal, and digital & technology as part of its capital investment.
Earlier this year, M&S announced an acceleration of its store rotation and renewal programme, including 12 new food stores on former Homebase sites.
The programme aims to create 420 bigger, fresher Food stores and a more productive group of 180 full line stores, with half the estate expected to be in renewal format by 2027/28.
