A firm of consulting engineers, which has an office in Hull, has
been appointed by leading online grocer Ocado Group Plc to provide
civil and structural engineering services for a new £210m
distribution centre in Dordon, North Warwickshire.
Waldeck, which also has offices in Peterborough, Sleaford,
Lincoln, Nottingham and Northampton, is responsible for the
structural design of the Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC), Ocado's
second, and the infrastructure on the 35-acre site on the Birch
Coppice Business Park.
North Warwickshire Borough Council has agreed to an extension to
the business park, confirming Ocado's plans for the 350,000 square
foot warehouse facility which will be fully automated and will make
the online retailer's services available to even more people.
Work is expected to begin on site in January 2011 and it's hoped
the CFC, which will create up to 2,000 jobs, will be fully
operational by September 2012.
Director Matt Tyers, who is based at Waldeck's Peterborough
office, said: "We have been doing work for Ocado at their CFC in
Hatfield since 2007 and have built up a good relationship with the
company. This has resulted in us being awarded this job which is
one of the biggest construction projects currently in the UK.
"Waldeck has years of experience in the planning, design,
supervision and delivery of large-scale engineering projects, which
means we can fully appreciate what is required to provide a
cost-effective, innovative design solution.
"This will be a high-tech, cutting edge facility capable of
delivering between 180,000 and 200,000 orders a week. One of the
logistical challenges we face is co-ordinating the external
building works with the construction of the internal, highly
sophisticated automated system and we're liaising closely with
Ocado's in-house project management team to ensure everything goes
to plan."
Director of Legal and Business Affairs at Ocado Neill Abrams
said: "The new £210m distribution centre is a major
investment for Ocado to ensure future growth of the company and we
are very pleased to have Waldeck as a part of our design team to
make sure this crucial project is delivered on time and on
budget."