Marks & Spencer has announced plans to open a new 390k square foot distribution centre at Avonmouth in Bristol as part of its plan to develop a modern logistics network with additional capacity for growth.

Modernising the supply chain is a key pillar in the M&S Reshape for Growth strategy. The new depot will process stock and serve stores in the Midlands, South-west England and South Wales.

M&S Food MD Alex Freudmann said:

“Modernising our supply chain is key to increasing the capacity in our network and will help us get ahead of the volume curve we are driving in M&S Food to meet our ambition of becoming a shopping list retailer. This new site will ensure that we’re getting the right products to the right stores at the right time for our customers. It will also create a great working environment for our colleagues.”

The new site is located mid-way between the existing sites at Bristol and Portbury and is expected to open in 2026.

The site will be M&S’s most sustainable food depot in the UK with excellent colleague facilities and include solar panels, ducting in the yard for electric vehicles and electric charging points.

The new depot comes on top of other recent investments by M&S in the South West. In December the retailer opened a renewed and expanded Foodhall at Cribbs Causeway and later this year will open new stores at Cabot Circus in Bristol and Bath City Centre.

M&S has already delivered the following modernisation to its supply chain: The first steps on developing a modern, lower cost to serve logistics network, with additional capacity for growth

In Food:

• M&S acquired Gist in August 2022 and building on benefits of Gist integration, focus now turns to investing in the network and increasing capacity.

• Implementation of the ‘One Best Way’ retail operations programme which is improving productivity and contributing to structural cost reductions. Following good results in the Leeds region, this is now being implemented more widely

• Roll out of a new forecasting and ordering system which is nearing completion, helping better match supply to market conditions to improve availability which is critical to continue targeting volume growth

• Long term agreements with strategic partners enabling investment in product innovation, factory capacity and supply chain resilience

In Clothing & Home:

• Investment in boxed storage and hanging capacity automation in the logistics network will increase capacity to serve online orders and reduce costs. Stoke and Ollerton warehouses have commenced online shipments in providing the capacity to service omni channel orders from four distribution centres

• Suppliers in key categories such as denim have been reduced and M&S is creating long term partnerships, lowering costs and improving capabilities