Swedish flat-pack furniture retailer Ikea has extended its contract with Chippenham-based logistics group Wincanton to operate two of its UK customer distribution centres.
Wincanton, Britain’s largest third-party logistics business, will now run the centres in Medway, Kent and Harlow, Essex, for a further five and two years respectively.
The centres serve Ikea customers across Greater London and the South East and Wincanton said the extensions represented continued progress against its strategic focus on its growth markets, particularly in digital and eFulfilment.
Wincanton said they also demonstrated its ability to capitalise on the shift in consumer purchasing habits that accelerated during the pandemic.
Wincanton chief executive officer James Wroath said: “This is another important step in our long-standing relationship with Ikea and more evidence of the positive progress we are making in our digital and eFulfilment business.
“We are proud to have supported Ikea in achieving significant volume growth in the past year and these extensions reflect both the success of our partnership and the underlying strength of Wincanton's broad supply chain capabilities.”
Wincanton employs around 19,600 workers, including 5,500 drivers, providing supply chain services to brands ranging from Britvic to Screwfix and across a wide range of industries including retail, construction, defence and energy.
It operates from more than 200 sites across the UK totalling 14m sq ft of space and uses 3,500 vehicles.
Its eFulfilment business racked up a raft of new contracts last year as Britain locked down and record numbers of people shopped from home.
