UK supermarket Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced a £340m investment in a new automated food distribution centre, as the retailer pushes ahead with plans to double the size of its grocery business.
The 1.3mn sq ft site, to be built at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal in Northamptonshire, is due to open in 2029.
It will act as a national distribution centre (NDC) for M&S Food, incorporating advanced automation to speed up restocking, improve product availability and reduce long-term costs.
Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, said the project was “central” to the company’s ambition to become a weekly shopping destination.
“This investment will boost capacity for future growth, lower our cost to serve over the long-term, and improve product availability – ensuring customers find the right products in the right place at the right time,” he said.
The retailer said the construction phase would create more than 2,000 jobs, with 1,000 permanent roles once the facility becomes operational.
Automation technology at the site will include pallet cranes, high-speed shuttle systems and hands-free picking solutions.
Prologis has been appointed as the development partner, while TGW Logistics will provide automation technology.
Paul Weston, regional head at Prologis UK, said the project represented “a long-term infrastructure platform tailored to M&S’ future supply chain,” combining automation and smart energy systems to support growth and net zero goals.
Craig Mitchell, sales project manager at TGW, described the partnership as “a logistics warehouse fit for future retail demands, one that sets a new benchmark for innovation and efficiency in the UK grocery sector.”
M&S says that it has made supply chain modernisation one of its top investment priorities alongside digital transformation and store rotation. By 2027–28, it aims to have half of its estate in its new-format design, including 420 larger food stores.
