London, 25 Apr. The British online supermarket chain Ocado announced on Tuesday plans to close a distribution center in the town of Hatfield (Hertfordshire, England) by the end of 2023, in an operation that will have an impact on some 2,300 employees.
This is a measure aimed at running automated warehouses and affects its oldest distribution center, where around a fifth of its customers’ orders are handled each week.
Purchases processed at that facility will be moved to a new automated warehouse located in Luton (north-west of the country), which will open this year.
In a statement, Ocado has indicated that his intention is to offer employment to the maximum of workers who will be possibly affected by the closure of that center in places as close as possible, such as Luton itself.
“As the online sales channel grows, our new distribution centers and technologies will drive a shift in consumer experience and efficiencies,” Tim Steiner, group CEO, said today.
The manager considered that “this is the right time to discontinue operations at our oldest facility in Hatfield and consider future options for that location.”
“We want to keep as much of this talent and experience within the business as possible and hope to retain a large proportion of colleagues impacted by these changes, either at our Luton hub or in our wider network across the UK. Kingdom,” Steiner added. EFE
prc/ja/cg
