Ground-breaking is an everyday phrase that is usually meant metaphorically. But it was literally the case when David Priestman witnessed the commencement of a new distribution centre at Daventry’s international rail freight terminal logistics park in Northamptonshire in January.
Farmer-owned dairy cooperative Arla Foods and XPO Logistics have extended their strategic partnership by creating a future-ready, resilient chilled foods operation – through a 285,000 sq.ft. new UK national or central distribution centre (CDC) that will handle all Arla’s British chilled palletised products.
Currently under development at Prologis’s vast intermodal DIRFT complex, which is adjacent to the M1 and M6 motorways plus the west coast railway mainline, the new facility will bring Arla’s chilled dairy products (cheese, butter, yoghurts), into a single, centralised location. “It’s the most established warehouse location in the UK,” Phil Oakley, SVP, Prologis UK, told me. DHL, Tesco, GXO, Bleckmann and Sainsbury’s have DCs here already. This new development aims to strengthen Arla’s supply chain resilience, reduce road freight miles and support more efficient distribution across Britain.
Fran Ball, SVP UK Supply Chain for Arla Foods UK, commented: “Consolidating our chilled pallet operations into a single, advanced facility in Northamptonshire is a strategic leap forward for Arla. By partnering with XPO Logistics and Prologis, we are improving the resilience of a critical part of our supply chain and making meaningful progress on reducing waste and road miles.”
Cold Pallets
XPO Logistics is project managing the delivery of the CDC and will operate the site from late 2027, when it becomes operational, thus making this a fast construction and quick implementation. As part of a continued, long-term partnership, XPO is supporting Arla beyond day-to-day operations, bringing expertise in transformation, automation and scalable operating design. The new CDC will create around 400 new jobs.
Investment in automation, via systems integrator Dematic, will create skilled warehousing roles, including automation operations, maintenance, quality, inventory control, safety and management. Appropriate training and upskilling for advanced automation will be provided by XPO as part of the recruitment and onboarding process. The CDC will have 40000 pallet locations and 850 pick faces in the picking tunnels. It will make extensive use of Movu’s ‘Atlas’ 4D pallet shuttle. “Each shuttle is an individual unit, so it is scalable,” says Dan Myers, Senior Vice President, Dedicated Supply Chain – Europe, XPO Logistics. “We can add shuttles at peak periods.”
Human Leagues
One of the challenges with cold stores is maximising space utilisation. “Chill as little as possible,” Myers advises. “Arla stands for quality; their products are loved and trusted by households. This future-ready CDC is designed to handle projected growth and will play a key role in ensuring that Arla continues to deliver great products whilst improving the resilience, sustainability, and efficiency of its supply chain. Working together, we’re driving positive strategic change which will support Arla’s business to continue to prosper today and tomorrow.”
I asked Myers about the challenges of recruitment. “You can hire people, of course,” he replied. “Growing 10% a year means we’re people-based, so the challenge is recruiting enough staff. Our values are important.” As well as training and a vocational approach XPO offer a benefits package.
Pride in the Facility
The new CDC is being constructed to meet BREEAM outstanding accreditation and an EPC A* rating. At 22.5m high and with 48 dock doors, the CDC will have a PV solar array to bolster its power supply. “This will generate a surplus of electricity, and the logistics park has ample energy as well,” Oakley told me. “Partnerships and developments like this play an important role in creating long term economic value, helping to attract investment and underpin jobs across the region,” he added. “At DIRFT, we’ve built a community with the capacity and skills to support high-performing logistics operations like this one.” It’s the company’s second largest logistics park in the world and features walking routes, sports facilities and green spaces.
Most DIRFT warehouse occupiers make use of the rail connectivity, which is a distinct advantage of this location. XPO will utilise the west coast mainline to move products to and from Scotland, where Arla has another major hub (for UHT and lactose-free milk). “Rail freight is optional here,” Oakley stated. “The capacity is there and will increase once HS2 (high-speed rail) is complete,” which is between three and seven years away. “More places to offload rail containers are needed, however.” For every rail service used 70-80 lorries are taken off the roads, so it should be a win-win.
I asked Oakley if Prologis have finally run out of space at DIRFT. “We have 1.8 million sq.ft. left to develop, making a total of 8 million sq.ft. on the park,” he informed me. “This is the third phase. Land is prepared and has planning consent.” Some new ‘on-spec’ warehousing will be ready this summer. Get it while you can.
