B&Q to open new 375,000ft² DC in Swindon

B&Q is to open a new 375,000ft² DC adjacent to its existing warehouse in Swindon.

The company said that the new facility, which will employ 100 people when it opens next February, will maximise product availability for its in-store and digital customers.

Tim Crighton, group logistics property manager at B&Q’s parent company Kingfisher, said that the opening of the warehouse is part of the group’s transformation plan called One Kingfisher.

“The new site will allow us to improve efficiencies within the supply chain for B&Q, meaning we’ll be able to get product out to stores more quickly,” he said.

The DC will be located at G.Park Swindon and will be developed by Gazeley, which also developed the original 800,000ft² warehouse in 2008. Once operational the site will be run by B&Q’s logistics partners Wincanton and XPO Logistics.

The new warehouse will be heated by the same biomass plant as the existing facility. It will also incorporate roof-top solar panels and beehives will be spread around the surrounding grounds.

Gazeley says that Swindon’s road links, including proximity to the M4, makes it appealing to occupiers – another company at G.Park Swindon is TNT which opened a 56,000ft² facility in 2015.

Gazeley’s senior development director Bruce Topley said: “G.Park Swindon benefits from exceptional transport links and has become a leading destination for logistics and distribution operations in the UK.”

Other developers are also active in Swindon. For example, DB Symmetry recently completed a 221,000ft² speculative building at its Symmetry Park, Swindon scheme.

This is the first building at the 96-acre development which could accommodate a range of warehouse sizes from 200,000ft² up to 1 million ft².

By Simon Jack