Pictured above: Planning and Site Development Co-ordinator for Oakland, Louise Ziolek and Oakland's MD, Dean Attwell

Representing an investment of over £3 million, multi temperature supply chain specialist, Oakland International, is celebrating after being granted planning permission to extend their existing warehouse facilities at their Midlands HQ; securing not only the company's future at the site, but also creating over 100 additional jobs over the next 18 months at the Redditch depot.

The long-awaited planning permission for the new 55,000 sq ft chilled warehouse will replace five existing ambient sheds providing much needed space for continued expansion of Oakland's plans for retail consolidation scheme development. The new multi-million pound facility will create an additional 8,000 pallet spaces and will incorporate a deep chill storage chamber to support seasonal requirements and provide additional specialist storage needs for year round supply chain solutions.

The extension to Oakland's chilled and ambient capabilities follows 2 years of extensive planning preparations in readiness for the demolition of existing older buildings, before being transformed in to a new state of the art, energy efficient facility, capable of handling 50 per cent more customer product volume.

Planning and Site Development Co-ordinator for Oakland, Louise Ziolek, stated: "It's great news. Planning permission was granted in April, so everyone associated with the project is now at full speed ahead. Demolition and rebuild will take between 6 and 8 months, with Oakland aiming to begin operations soon after that."

Oakland's holistic approach to business development and organic growth is a key element benefitting Oakland customers, with this recent improvement set to increase site product volumes by 50 per cent.

Oakland International's MD, Dean Attwell, stated: "This is huge for the business and for Oakland's future. Attaining planning permission is crucial to preserving our competitiveness within the marketplace, and with increased sales we are in need of quality storage space and an enhanced distribution area to ensure we maintain our excellent service levels even at times of high demand.

"This service platform extension will support Oakland customers as they develop and expand their business capabilities, whilst allowing Oakland to develop and enhance our multi temperature supply chain and 3PL service offer."

The design of Oakland's new warehouse encompasses enhanced storage capacity and energy efficiency, reducing energy needs whilst handling greater customer volumes. Project timelines are being mapped out currently and it is hoped that the new building will be operational by the end of 2010 or early 2011.

For more information about Oakland International, please visit their website here: www.oakland-international.com