Brakes parent company Sysco is to create its largest depot in Europe, adapting a former Amazon site in Hemel Hempstead into a new 475,000sq ft facility at a cost of £100m.
The company will now spend the next 18 months adapting the location to make it suitable for foodservice operations, and claim that it will help contribute to the creation of 850 jobs over the next decade and be fully operational at the beginning of 2026.
Sysco also says it will be the first facility in the country to benefit from the complete suite of technology and proprietary software currently in use at the company’s wholesale distribution operations in the United States.
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The depot will add additional capacity to the existing network in the south east and allow it to store a more comprehensive range of fresh, frozen and ambient products locally and facilitate Sysco’s growth plan across the UK.
Paul Nieduszynski, chief executive of Sysco GB, said: “The new Sysco London depot is a next generation site, unlike anything we’ve seen before. As the largest Sysco site in Europe, it will offer a more comprehensive service to independent customers in London and the surrounding areas. It takes foodservice wholesale in Britain to an entirely new level.
“For the first time, we will be able to introduce the full suite of technology that benefits Sysco customers in the United States. The size of the depot will also allow us to be more responsive to customer demand by holding a full range of products on the edge of Greater London. The combination of scale, cutting-edge technology, range and service will set a new standard for foodservice wholesale in the UK.”
