Hermes will open its Nottingham depot a month early due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a spike in demand.
The depot, which will create over 100 new jobs, is located off junction 26 of the M1 highway and is expected to process more than 100,000 parcels a day.
Based at Panattoni Park, the 75,719ft2 building has the capacity to process up to 120,000 parcels a day and will be opening early and in line with COVID-19 operating measures.
Hermes is adding capacity in the UK with a dedicated returns center at its site in Rugby and upgrading its Nuneaton facility, which is normally only used during the peak Christmas season.
Jon Ormond, operations director – hubs and depots at Hermes, said the COVID-19 pandemic has made online shopping the standard way to acquire essential goods.
He said, “This has generated an increase in parcel volumes and a demand for additional capacity and it is therefore imperative that we continue to make the right strategic investments in the right locations. This will also create new jobs and provide economic stimulation to these regions as the UK faces challenging economic times.”
Simon Jenkins, development director at Panattoni, said, “Hermes’s outline requirement was for a building of this size in this location. We were able to work with their team to adapt the building, which we had developed on a speculative basis, to suit their exact needs. The additional works required providing further yard space with four more level access doors on the end elevation of the building to meet Hermes requirements.”