The 117,400 sq ft site will be purpose built for Bidvest 3663, who have signed a multi-million pound twenty year lease contract with development company, SEGRO plc. Bidvest 3663 will fit out the premises once completed.
The head office space will occupy 22,000 sq ft across three floors and will include a customer presentation suite developed with direction from the company’s food development team. The state of the art temperature controlled warehouse and distribution facility has been designed to be environmentally friendly and will utilise low voltage LED lighting, include light and warehouse door sensors and have solar panels fitted on the roof to supply electricity to the site.
Due for completion in spring 2016, the new premises will accommodate Bidvest 3663’s head office function, incorporating marketing, commercial, quality control, finance and IT teams. Customer services and telesales personnel will also be housed on site as part of the new Slough depot.
Andrew Selley, chief executive of Bidvest 3663 said: “The move to Slough will enable us to operate from a high quality and modern facility which will alleviate pressure on existing depots in London and the South, well positioned near the M25, M40 and M4 motorways.
“The location and efficiencies that the new depot will bring will enable us to serve our customers with a fast, efficient service, as well as provide new employment opportunities for the local community.”
The new headquarters is stage three of an outlined multi-million pound growth plan for Bidvest 3663. The first phase of the company’s investment roll-out began in 2012 with extended service coverage following the acquisition of Scotland’s Forteith Foodservice in July 2012 and South Lincs Foodservice in October 2012. During the same period, Bidvest 3663 also increased freezer capacity across its network by upgrading a number of existing depot facilities.
Phase two of the company’s plans involved the addition of four new facilities (Wakefield, Chepstow, Hoddesdon and Bicester) and the implementation of technology to improve efficiency such as integrated warehouse voice picking systems.
The new depots have also been designed to be more environmentally friendly, with motion-sensor lighting, vehicle telematics, fast-close warehouse doors and solar panels on the roof at Chepstow, which supplies electricity for the depot.