LONDON (Reuters) – British retailer Marks & Spencer will increase its online capacity by building a new automated online warehouse in its existing distribution centre in Bradford, northern England, it said on Monday.
M&S said the expansion would create 300 new jobs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend towards more digital shopping, with M&S’s online sales growing 34% in the first half of its 2020-21 year.
The Bradford site currently delivers both clothing and food to M&S stores. The new investment will utilise existing vacant space within the centre to create a new online warehouse for M&S.com.
The expansion means that by Christmas 2021 M&S will serve online customers from its Castle Donington warehouse in central England, from Bradford and through its stores which act as micro-fulfilment centres.
(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
