Work has started on The Co-operative’s £22m food distribution centre at South Normanton in northern Derbyshire.
The 477,000 sq ft facility at Clowes Developments’ Castlewood site will take over the work of two smaller Co-operative food depots in the region – in nearby Alfreton, Derby, and in Bulwell, Nottingham.
Mark Leonard, head of logistics service at The Co-operative Food, said: “The new distribution depot in Castlewood, South Normanton, will provide a major boost to the local economy and employment. It will not only create a significant number of new jobs locally, but its proximity to our existing depots in the area will allow many staff to transfer to the new site, safeguarding around 740 jobs in the region.
It is expected to be fully operational during 2013, when it will serve 529 stores throughout the region, covering Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. It will have the capacity to deliver around 68 million cases of groceries per year.
Construction work has started to clear the site ahead of laying foundations for the facility. The project is being managed by First Industrial, the industrial development company.
The new facility will employ around 1,080 staff. Around 460 people are employed at Alfreton and around 280 at Bulwell. It is anticipated that the majority of the positions at the new site will be filled by existing Co- staff transferring, but the new depot is expected to create at least 340 new jobs locally.
The facility will also incorporate several energy-saving and recycling initiatives, including rainwater harvesting to reduce water demand on site and waste oil burning systems for heat production. LED lighting will be installed to cut energy costs by some 60 per cent and help the site to achieve an “excellent” BREEAM accreditation rating, the internationally-recognised green building measurement.
