New Look moves to Stoke to speed up its deliveries

Fashion retailer New Look is transferring its entire distribution facility to the Midlands in an effort to speed up delivery to stores and cut costs.

The 400,000 sq ft (37,160 sq m) centre, which will be designed specifically for New Look, is due to open in September next year.

Chief executive Phil Wrigley said the location of the centre - near Stoke at Newcastle-under-Lyme - was key.

'We've got a huge number of stores in the north,' he said. 'It's much more efficient to distribute from one control centre rather than two.' He said delivery times would be shortened by a day.

At present, stock can take up to a week to arrive in shops as it travels between two distribution centres in Doncaster and Weymouth. Both will close over the next 18 months.

The increased warehouse space is also necessary to fulfil New Look's growth plans. 'We plan to aggressively grow the business and we need the capacity to do that,' he said.

The initiative will allow the retailer to stock more hanging garments - from 17 million to 40 million. The change will save time and money, because warehouse staff will have less unpacking to do. Product will also arrive in stores with fewer creases.

New Look is in the throes of restructuring as it concentrates on improving the business, following the distractions of its privatisation. Founder Tom Singh took New Look private four months ago in a£700 million Permira-backed deal.

Separately, New Look will roll out its menswear trial to 30 stores in September.