Ocado warehouse to open two years on from devastating fire
The company's new 'customer fulfilment centre' in Andover will employ 1,700 people
Ocado are on schedule to open their new 'customer fulfilment centre' this autumn, two years on from a devastating fire which completely destroyed their 18-acre grocery distribution depot in Andover.
The fire raged for almost a week in February 2019, with more than 300 firefighters from the surrounding areas tackling the blaze at its peak.
Before the fire, the site had processed more than 30,000 online food orders each week, however the the blaze cost Ocado £110 million and 400 jobs were lost.
In February last year the full effects of the fire became clear when the company announced a 27 per cent fall in core earnings in the 12 months to 1 December 2019, meaning its losses were nearly five times as much as the previous year.
A report found that the cause was an electrical fault at a battery charging unit, but also highlighted a detection system failure and that staff had turned off sprinklers to try and manage the fire themselves.
The fire also created a considerable community emergency, with around 100 residents living near to the Walworth Business Park being forced to evacuate, and a 300 foot (500m) exclusion zone put in place over fears that a giant gas cylinder might explode.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service described it at the time as "the largest commercial property fire and most dangerous we've ever been involved with"
Rising from the ashes
Ocado say the new facility will employ around 1700 people across a variety of different roles, ranging from Personal Shoppers (our warehouse operatives) to Management as well as Engineers, Tech support and Drivers.
Roles have been made available to all those who worked at the site in 2019 and around 200 employees who worked there previously are planning to return to work at the new site.
A world first
The new centre will be 217,000 square foot (compared with 225,000 for the previous site) and cater for up to 59,000 deliveries per week when it's at peak capacity.
The original centre, which opened in December 2016, was the first of its kind in the world and the company says provides the format for the new facilities they have built and are building in the UK and around the world.
"I'm so proud of everyone"
General manager at the Ocado Group, Max Whitwell, said: “I am so proud of everyone at Ocado Group that has come together and put such a huge amount of time, effort and love into the last two years of rebuilding the Andover CFC.
"There is a huge emotional connection for so many of us returning to Andover seeking to capture the magic of what we had before, as well as improving our employee experience and operational effectiveness, wherever we can.
"We are almost there, and we cannot wait to open our doors and send out the first orders later in the year.”
Meanwhile, Kim Lund, Senior People Partner at Ocado Group said: “We are delighted to be re-engaging with the Andover community and have been overwhelmed by the response to our return.
"It has been fantastic to reconnect with many former employees of the site, and it is a credit to the Ocado brand and culture that many are returning to work again at the site.
"The hard work continues ahead of fully reopening but in the meantime, we are looking forward to immersing ourselves into the Andover community, by providing great employment opportunities as well as supporting local schools, colleges, charities and business connections.”