Waitrose opens new Greenford fulfilment centre
Waitrose is opening a new customer fulfilment centre in West London’s Greenford today.
When fully operational later this year, the facility will create 800 jobs and deliver 25,000 online orders each week to enable the supermarket to offer five times more online slots each week in London than before the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff at the centre will pick and pack 1.25 million products a week which will be delivered in 150 new vans.
Waitrose also operates fulfilment centres in Coulsdon and Enfield for London customers, while a network of Waitrose shops cover 90% of postcodes for the rest of the UK. However, the Greenford facility is the first to be opened and operated with the supermarket’s supply chain partner Wincanton, which has a 20 year relationship with Waitrose in supplying wines and spirits to shops.
Laura Burbedge, Waitrose.com director, said: “Waitrose.com now accounts for a fifth of our total business, compared to six percent a year ago. But despite this huge growth we know there are still more people who would like to shop online with us – so this new centre is a significant step in our future plans.”
The fulfilment centre is opening with FareShare as a partner, meaning surplus food will be put to good use.
