Ocado will cease operations at its Hatfield customer fulfillment center later this year, putting 2,300 jobs at risk.
The online grocer, which runs the site in a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, is hoping to move as many staff as possible to other centres, including its new Luton site.
This comes as retailers increasingly move to more productive robotic checkout centers.
Ocado said it doesn’t expect the volume of orders being filled to be affected.
The company says its Hatfield location – which was its first fulfillment center – handles around a fifth of the 400,000 orders it processes per week.
These will now be moved to “highly productive, next-generation facilities” across the UK, including the Luton site which is due to open later this year.
Ocado said its latest generation of automated fulfillment centers has “consistently achieved well over 200 units picked per hour worked,” compared to around 150 at the first-generation Hatfield site.
The newer locations also use less energy and have better capacity for same-day deliveries, she added.
Boss Tim Steiner said now is the right time to close operations at Hatfield and consider “future options for the site.”
He said a consultation for affected employees has started but the company expects to keep “a large proportion of colleagues”.
Add Comment