ASOS to open Midlands mega shed

Online fashion retailer ASOS, is investing £90m in a brand-new state-of-the-art fulfilment centre in Lichfield, Staffordshire, with a plan to employ 2,000 people at the site over the next three years.

The 437,000 sq ft warehouse is known as Fradley 437 was speculatively developed by AEW as part of its EUR290 million develop-to-core UK logistics venture with Allianz. AEW bought the site from Evans of Leeds in 2019

The property boasts 15m eaves, 30 dock, six level access and six Euro dock level doors. It has a 100m yard as well as 80 HGV and 540 car parking spaces. It has 32,00 sq ft of offices across three floors with a 3.2 MvA power supply.

ASOS has taken the facility on a 15 year lease and it is expected to be operational within 12 months, allowing for a gradual ramp up with testing to meet the capacity required for peak trade in 2023. Ideally situated on the A38 with good road and airport links, the site will serve ASOS’ growing number of customers in the UK and around the world. Logistics Manager reported that the warehouse reached practical completion in March 2020.

Nick Beighton, CEO, ASOS, today commented, “This significant investment in infrastructure and large-scale job creation is a reflection of the confidence ASOS has in its future and the quality of the skills and talent available in this well-placed location. When fully up and running in 2023, the site will support our ever-increasing customer demand and enable us to develop our offerings and delivery capabilities even further.”

The Fradley Park warehouse joins a growing band of global fulfilment centres for ASOS. ASOS currently operates three, in Barnsley, Berlin and Atlanta. In October, ASOS announced its results for the year ending 31st August. Over the preceding 12-month period, the company delivered a 19% year-on-year growth in revenues to £3.26bn with profit before tax rising more than 300% to £142.1m. These results were underpinned by strong sales growth across all geographies and an increase in active customers to 23.4m people.

MWRE and Avison Young, represented the landlord and Knight Frank represented ASOS.