Logistics company Wincanton has struck what it has called a ‘transformational’ deal with supermarket group Waitrose to create a customer fulfilment centre for its online grocery deliveries.
In a first for the industry, Chippenham-headquartered Wincanton, which has worked with Waitrose for 20 years, will develop and operate the centre to handle 25,000 deliveries a week in West London.
The move, which will create 800 jobs under an initial five-year contract, will position Wincanton as the leader in a market currently experiencing exponential growth.
Home gocery deliveries have skyrocketed over recent years, with the lockdown adding to the trend as shoppers shunned supermarkets.
Wincanton said the contract would build on the heritage of its long-standing operations for Waitrose’s supermarkets along with its market-leading expertise in home delivery, e-fulfilment and food logistics.
Wincanton employs 17,700 workers, including 4,000-plus drivers, providing supply chain services to brands ranging from Ikea to Britvic and Screwfix and across a wide range of industries including retail, construction, defence and energy.
It operates from 200-plus locations across the UK and Ireland totalling 7.6m sq ft of warehousing and uses around 3,600 vehicles.
CEO James Wroath said: “This partnership with Waitrose to deliver groceries to customers’ homes is a fantastic opportunity for us to combine our existing capabilities in a new way, in order to accelerate Waitrose’s online growth.
“We will be the first third-party logistics operator to enter an exciting and rapidly expanding market.”
John Lewis Partnership executive director, operations, Andrew Murphy added: “This builds on a 20-year relationship with Wincanton from which we know them to be a collaborative and agile business partner. Our companies’ complementary experience will help us further accelerate our online growth and respond well to significant customer demand.”
