In line with its current turnaround strategy to expand its online activities, the John Lewis Partnership has signed an agreement with Tesco to lease a 1 million sq. ft. distribution centre at Fenny Lock in Milton Keynes.
The group stated that the move will help it meet growing customer demand for online orders. Since the start of the pandemic, online sales have grown from 40% to over 60% of the total John Lewis department store business.
The warehouse, leased for 11 years, will become the group’s second-largest distribution centre after its 2 million sq. ft. campus four miles away, at Magna Park in Milton Keynes.
Andrew Murphy, Partner and Executive Director of Operations for the Partnership said; “This one-of-a-kind distribution centre represents a fantastic opportunity to power the continued growth of Johnlewis.com, ensuring that we can keep pace with customer demand – both for our products and for our wide range of fulfilment and delivery options.”
The retailer plans to invest in the site’s automation capability but will also recruit 500 new staff to work at the distribution centre, which it plans to start operating during summer 2022.
Murphy added: “We will use the Fenny Lock site to fulfil customer orders for fashion, small home furnishing items and technology products. The proximity to our Magna Park campus will enable us to combine more customer orders, reducing both the number of packages we create by approximately one million per year, and the number of lorries on the road, helping us to meet our target of being net zero carbon by 2035.”
This year, the Partnership is investing £50m in johnlewis.com, with a further £100m+ to be committed to its online growth over the course of the group’s five-year turnaround plan.
The group also revealed that today that it signed a three year lease agreement for a 300k sq. ft. distribution centre at Bardon, Leicestershire which it will start using this month in time for Black Friday this year. The site will be operated by Clipper Logistics.
