A giant warehouse, which will be the UK import and deconsolidation hub for the Asda George clothing brand is creating over 400 jobs at the Wynyard Park site in Billingham. The new facility, developed and operated by Leeds based Clipper Logistics, was completed in August and officially opened on October 31st in an event attended by local dignitaries.
The building has three levels of mezzanine floor which creates over 840,000 sqft of operational space, with the design allowing for further growth to 1.2M sqft – or in other words it’s the size of 11 football pitches which can grow to almost 16. Over 770 tonnes of steel was used in the construction of the building, which, will receive and despatch upto 3million items of clothing per week to feed the George Clothing network.
The Clipper, Wynyard Park facility has been created to be a shared use operation – with Asda/George being the anchor customer. The location was chosen as it was close to the major import centre at Teesport operated by PD Ports. The building has been created to offer a modern and environmentally friendly supply chain solution, allowing retailers to benefit from its portcentric location – the design was developed to offer greater flexibility to support the changing demands of multichannel retailing. The site will provide retailers with a faster, slicker and more environmentally conscious retail solution, whilst reducing cost and allowing for “just in time” deliveries into regional distribution centres.
The building has been designed to be in line with high environmental standards, uses natural light wherever possible and has motion sensitive lighting throughout the facility, meaning energy is saved and operating costs are kept to a minimum. The design of the building will allow for other retailers to take advantage of this best practice solution at Wynyard Park through a shared-user proposition, without the need for further major capital investment.
In an unparalleled ten-year deal, Asda George will occupy over 70% of the operational space at the supercentre, which will feed its three UK regional clothing distribution centres. Ian Stansfield, Distribution Director for the retail giant said: “Clipper has proven itself to be an invaluable partner to our business and the success of the bespoke solutions they have created for us has brought about significant cost and efficiency savings to our operations.
“On the strength of this success, and our growing clothing business, we have taken the unprecedented step of signing this ten year contract for Clipper to provide deconsolidation solutions at the new Clipper Wynyard site.”
Managing Director of Clipper, Tony Mannix said: “This new facility represents a major investment in the Teesside economy and proves our commitment to the region. We’ve created a world-class logistics supercentre which takes an industry leading approach to supply chain solutions. We have developed our relationship with Asda/George over several years and this latest move demonstrates the trust that exists between the two companies. The building itself can be customised for numerous supply chain scenarios which is an extension of our mission to match ability with agility.”
“As well as providing ASDA/George with their bespoke solution, our new centre at Wynyard, will also offer other retailers – particularly those new to global sourcing and/or e-fulfilment, the opportunity to take advantage of deconsolidation best practice through a shared-user proposition without major capital investment.”
“These developments perfectly complement our retail and multichannel capabilities and confirm our position as the UK’s leading retail logistics specialist.”
Stephen Catchpole, Tees Valley Unlimited managing director said; "Logistics is a key sector for Tees Valley and as the local enterprise partnership for the area we continue to work with existing businesses and potential investors to help exploit our enviable connectivity and create the right conditions for growth.”
"Clipper's new facility is a bold statement with significant job creation and a further potential to expand and should be seen as an indication as to where the sector and the Tees Valley is going."
Leader of Stockton Council, Councillor Bob Cook, said: “We’re very pleased to have Clipper and Asda/George as our newest investors at Wynyard Park. There has been plenty of local interest in the site, which sits on one of our key transport arteries – the A19. The opportunities for local employment are extremely welcome and the decision to locate here demonstrates the excellent transport links and the strong, keen and highly skilled workforce we have in our region. The Tees Valley is very much open for business and this new venture is a ringing endorsement of that.”
Source:
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=117694
