The 19,500m2 warehouse will replace the food and drink supply chain specialist's current depot on an adjacent site.
It is being commissioned to add capacity to the company’s network, provide additional capability in the south west of England and support significant recent contract extensions and business wins with major food brands in the region.
“The business has matured and now is the right time for us to invest in this new development which will help us to offer customers an even bigger and better service,” said Steve Winwood, chief operating officer at Culina Group.
Second quarter of 2013
Culina expects the new distribution centre to go live in the second quarter of 2013 and said the old and new sites would operate in tandem for a short period, to ensure a seamless transition for customers.
All employees from the company’s existing facility at Cabot Park will transfer to the new site once the transition is completed. The company aims to create more than 100 jobs in the region to manage the enlarged round-the-clock operation.
Culina said the development marked the latest stage in its long-term business growth strategy. The company already supports a number of dairy, juice, packed meat and other food producers in the South West from its existing facility at Cabot Park.
The current expansion will create the largest shared user chilled warehouse in the region and enable Culina to consolidate and enhance its range of services, it said. It will effectively double its storage capacity in the locale and add about 10,000 chilled pallet locations to its UK chilled network.
Ambient loads
The new distribution centre will exclusively contain chilled storage but incorporates facilities for cross-docking ambient loads.
This would enable Culina to support customers with its shared user model, which ensures minimum vehicle and pallet movements for reduced handling costs, shorter lead times and fewer road miles. The company said it expected about 20 major contracts to be based at the site, once it is fully operational.
Culina is currently configuring the facility to meet its specific operational and business requirements. The site would incorporate 25 dock level loading doors and four level access doors to enable flexibility and the ability to cope with high distribution volumes, it said.
Cabot Park was the ideal strategic location to serve customers in the south west of England as part of Culina's growing UK network, it said. It occupies a strategic position close to major motorways.