John Lewis to build third DC at Magna Park

John Lewis has signed a deal with the owner of Magna Park in Milton Keynes to build a new 638,000ft² DC at the distribution park.

The new DC will be the third property IDI Gazeley has developed for the retail giant at Magna Park, following two previous custom-built sustainable warehouses of 650,000ft² and 668,000ft² respectively.

Construction of the new DC kicks off this month and should be completed by the start of November.

John Lewis has signed a 25-year lease and intends to use the facility to support its existing DC operations at Magna Park and for the general storage of furniture, electricals and home furnishings.

The building will feature 600,000ft² of warehouse space, together with 38,000ft² of office accommodation over two storeys including a training centre.

Dino Rocos, operations director at John Lewis, said: “As customers’ shopping habits evolve, so too does our operational business model. The new DC will enable us to respond better, react and fulfil omnichannel shopping experiences be it via phone, tablet, desktop or visiting a shop.

“For the supply chain, this means improving availability. Our new Milton Keynes DC will complement our two existing Magna Park sites built by IDI Gazeley and provide us with the space to continue to build on the improvements we have made in providing better service to our shops and customers.”

MotorTransport.co.uk reported last week that Clipper Logistics had been awarded a 10-year deal to provide retail support services from a new 300,000ft² city centre DC to support the new Magna Park operation; a location has yet to be announced, but operations are due to commence mid-2016.

Magna Park is IDI Gazeley’s flagship UK logistics and distribution park, strategically located between junctions 13 and 14 of the M1, offering up to 4.4 million ft² of grade A, sustainable distribution space. It is home to the national distribution operations of John Lewis and Waitrose, together with soft drinks manufacturer AG Barr.