A GIANT warehouse hub for Asda’s George clothing brand opened yesterday on Teesside, creating more than 400 jobs.
The UK import and deconsolidation centre for the supermarket’s clothing brand was developed at Wynyard Park in Billingham by Clipper Logistics and was completed in August.
Built on 22 acres of land, the building covers the size of 11 football pitches across three levels of mezzanine floor and has space to grow to the equivalent size of 16 football pitches.
There is also space to park 120 HGVs on site.
Up to three million items of George clothing will be received and dispatched each week from the centre, which feeds into three Asda UK regional clothing distribution centres.
Asda has signed up to take 70% of the building for the next 10 years with the remaining 30% available for other businesses to hire.
Asda’s distribution director, Ian Stansfield, said: “Clipper has proven itself to be an invaluable partner to our business and the success of the bespoke solutions they have created for us has brought about significant cost and efficiency savings to our operations.
“On the strength of this success, and our growing clothing business, we have taken the unprecedented step of signing this 10-year contract for Clipper to provide deconsolidation solutions at the new Clipper Wynyard site.”
The site was chosen because of its strong transport links – its proximity to Teesport and its position adjacent to the A19 and close to the A1.
Stephen Catchpole, managing director of Local Enterprise Partnership Tees Valley Unlimited, said: “Logistics is a key sector for Tees Valley and as the local enterprise partnership for the area we continue to work with existing businesses and potential investors to help exploit our enviable connectivity and create the right conditions for growth.
“Clipper’s new facility is a bold statement with significant job creation and a further potential to expand and should be seen as an indication as to where the sector and the Tees Valley is going.”
Clipper managing director Tony Mannix said: “We’ve created a world-class logistics supercentre which takes an industry-leading approach to supply chain solutions. We have developed our relationship with Asda/George over several years and this latest move demonstrates the trust that exists between the two companies.
“The building can be customised for numerous supply chain scenarios, which is an extension of our mission to match ability with agility.”
