Marks & Spencer to build a £340m automated warehouse

The retailer confirmed it will invest £340 million in a 1.3 million sq ft food distribution facility in Northamptonshire. The site is expected to generate 2,000 jobs during construction and a further 1,000 permanent roles when it opens in 2029. Opening in 2029, the site will span 1.3 million square feet and is designed to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating – placing it among the most sustainable warehouses anywhere in the world. The new distribution centre will be located at Daventry’s international rail freight terminal, around four miles east of Rugby, with direct connections to the west coast main line.

Increased automation, 12 new food halls in 2025

The investment is the largest in the company’s history and forms part of a wider move to increase automation across its supply chain. Products moving through the site will be handled by automated cranes, with small robots retrieving items from storage for delivery to stores, primarily across the Midlands and northern Home Counties. M&S said the initiative will support chief executive Stuart Machin’s ambition to double the size of the food business. Last year, Machin stated he wanted the retailer to become a “go-to” store for weekly grocery shopping.

420 food halls by 2030

To support its ambitious strategy on food retail, the company is on track to open 12 new food halls by the end of 2025.  The number of M&S food halls is set to rise from 324 to 420 over the next four years, with average store sizes increasing to 14,000 sq ft from 8,000 sq ft as of last year. Food sales rose 8.7 per cent to £9 billion in the last financial year, although the figures did not include the impact of April’s cyber-attack that the chain suffered from. NielsenIQ data showing a 6.7 per cent year-on-year increase in food sales in the 12 weeks to 9 August.

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