Asos starts work to extend its Barnsley site
ONLINE fashion retailer ASOS has started work on extending its site in Barnsley.
The warehouse has over 560,000 sq ft of space and is 15 metres high and now, building work to extend the site by 140,000 sq ft has started, which will provide the storage capacity for the required unit volumes to exceed the company’s £1bn sales target.
The 3,000 team of staff now working at the ASOS warehouse will be adding around £170m into the local economy through wages. By the end of 2013, there will 3,200 staff employed by Asos in Barnsley and over the next two years there is potential for a further 1,500 jobs to be created.
The plans follow the news earlier this year that the global firm, in one of Europe’s largest logistics deals, awarded a three-year, £100m contract for the management of its worldwide distribution centre to Norbert Dentressangle.
Prime Minister David Cameron visited the warehouse in Grimethorpe, Barnsley yesterday.
Nick Robertson, Asos chief executive officer, said: “Long-term sustainability is central to our Grimethorpe strategy, through commerciality and community.
“Taking Barnsley’s history of UK industry into the future through international opportunity – building skills and experiences for young people in the process – perfectly mirrors the spirit and values of the ASOS brand, and we are committed to continuing this approach alongside our ongoing investment.”
Leader of Barnsley Council, counc Sir Steve Houghton CBE, said: “Asos has been a tremendous success story, not only for Grimethorpe, but for Barnsley as a whole.
“They demonstrate that we have the right sites, the right transport links and the right workforce to make an impact on the national and international stage. We as a council have worked long and hard to attract employers of this calibre and will continue to support them, and others, to help turn the borough into an area that can compete with the very best in terms of attracting investment and offering business the opportunity to develop, expand and succeed.”
ASOS moved its main distribution centre to Barnsley in 2010 and opened its Grimethorpe warehouse in 2011.
