Retailer Marks & Spencer has confirmed that DHL is to handle the collection and delivery of goods into its new Castle Donington warehouse in the East Midlands when it opens this spring.

DHL will also handle outbound deliveries to M&S Stores. However, deliveries to M&S e-commerce customers, meanwhile, will be handled by City Link and Royal Mail, a spokesman for the retailer said.

The 900,000ft² Castle Donington warehouse, which should eventually create 1,000 new jobs,  will distribute two million clothing and home products a week to customer homes and M&S stores across the country.

The site, which M&S says will be the UK’s largest e-commerce warehouse, is being opened as part of a supply chain transformation programme that started in 2008 and involves the retailer moving from over 100 small storage facilities to a small number of much larger sites.

It follows the opening of a 1.1 million ft² site in Bradford in 2010 that is used for storage and distribution of furniture products and store equipment, as well as ambient food.