F&M tea

Upmarket grocer Fortnum & Mason has increased the efficiency of its tea packing process by installing a dedicated chamber within the retailer’s warehouse in Sutton near Ely in Cambridgeshire.

Previously, Fortnum & Mason employees measured and packed 125g and 250g bags of tea on location at its London-based outlets in Piccadilly, St Pancras and Heathrow Terminal 5. Now the retailer has moved this process to its Sutton DC, allowing its retail staff to solely concentrate on customer service and sales.

The chamber is managed by fulfillment and returns specialist iForce, which has provided a range of multi-channel services at the site since August 2012, including direct to customer distribution, building and despatching the retailer’s iconic hampers, managing the stock replenishment of its stores and overseeing international wholesaler distribution.

Atty Hussein, director of logistics at Fortnum & Mason, said: “By moving our tea packing operations to our distribution facility in Sutton we will be able to achieve significant time and cost savings. We have been partnered with iForce for more than two years and the company’s flexibility has allowed us to become more efficient across our day-to-day operations."

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