M&S buys up Lichfield warehouse in £67m deal
Retail giant Marks & Spencer says the acquisition of a 437,000 sq ft former Asos warehouse will help to double the size of its online fashion business.
The firm announced it had snapped up the “fully automated” fulfilment centre in a statement earlier today, five years after online specialist Asos had launched the £90m Fradley Park site – originally intended to fulfil orders to more than 150 countries around the world.
Around 600 jobs will be created by the move, Marks & Spencer says, with an opening date penned in for 2027.
The KPP-designed Fradley Park site, around three miles north-east of Lichfield, was built by GMI in 2021 and received a fanfare opening from then-Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant.
However, Asos mothballed the site just three years later in response to falling sales.
M&S managing director for fashion, home and beauty, John Lyttle, said: “As we transform M&S Fashion, Home and Beauty, our ambition is to double online sales. To achieve this and serve our customers faster, more efficiently and with better availability, our 24/7 distribution network needs more capacity.
“We’ve always said that we’ll deliver our transformation with highly disciplined capital investment, always mindful of spending shareholder money wisely. This acquisition does just that, delivering tangible business benefits that move our transformation forward, at a much lower cost compared to a new build option.”
M&S says transforming its supply chain is a “strategic priority”, part of plans to drive online growth and improve its profit margin through long-term efficiencies.
Meanwhile Asos said the deal would help it to simplify its operations, describing the sale as an important step forward in the firm’s financial position, following a £237m refinancing package agreed in November.
