By Liza Helps, Property Editor, Logistics Matters

KNOWN AS B295, the self-contained manufacturing and warehouse unit sits on a site of 14.7 acres and boasts a 275,775 ft2 of warehouse space with 15m eaves. It has 22 dock (including 2 Euro Dock) and four level access doors served by a 56m yard with parking for 50 HGVs.

It also has some 16,000 ft2 of three storey office space as well as a 1,693 ft2  transport hub. Agents for Gousto on the assignment were Lambert Smith Hampton and sbh.

The new distribution centre is expected to be operational by 2028 in what the bookseller describes as a “significant investment in the company’s future growth and operational capabilities”.

Waterstones, which has been based in Burton for 18 years, will operate both its existing 157,5000 ft2 facility on the 200-acre Centrum 100 development – which it acquired in 2007 – and the new facility in parallel on a ‘lift and shift’ approach to maintain continuity.

A statement from Waterstones to trade magazine The Bookseller said: “As the business has expanded its retail footprint, online sales and product offering, the need for additional space and capability has become increasingly important.”

Last year Waterstones moved its Book Hub logistics services in house. At the time logistics director, Beccy Preece had noted that managing the Book Hub directly gave the company greater control and flexibility to deliver the best possible service. Previously, the supply chain contract had been fulfilled by Unipart Logistics.

Gousto acquired the B295 warehouse in 2022 but never occupied the property, it recently announced that it would be shuttering its Clay Lake warehouse in Lincolnshire, affecting some 290 jobs and consolidating to its production and distribution facility in Warrington in the Northwest.