Logistics specialist Unipart said it has created hundreds of jobs at a new global parts distribution centre for West Midlands automotive giant Jaguar Land Rover – with hundreds more to follow.
JLR announced a few years back that it was building a 3 million sq ft complex next to Junction 11 of the M42, at Appleby Magna, in west Leicestershire.
The car maker wanted to centralise the work currently done at 19 warehouses dotted around the Midlands and create a global hub to send spares to customers in the UK and 80 countries around the world.
Winvic constructed seven warehouse units with associated infrastructure at the 238 acre logistics campus and Unipart Logistics won a five-year contract to operate the distribution centre for JLR two years ago.
Because of the changing automotive market JLR will now only be using part of the site with tenants sought for the remainder. Global transport and logistics company DSV has also taken a big unit there.
In the past 12 months Unipart said it had grown its presence at Appleby Magna from a 38-strong team and two empty units – each measuring 1 million sq ft – to 380 staff with one of the units fully fitted out with floor-to-ceiling racking.
A Unipart spokeswoman said: “A joint project team from JLR and Unipart has worked tirelessly and very collaboratively to develop and test new processes, design and commission new systems, and ensure that the right resources are in the right place, at the right time, fully trained to deliver an uninterrupted service to their respective customers.”
JLR and Unipart will eventually operate the business from Units 2 and 4 – but for now are storing some slow-moving product lines, testing warehouse systems and processes, and training new recruits in Unit 3.
The spokeswoman said: “The type and volume of parts being moved into Mercia Park is what determines the number of people and skills required to run the operation.
“With around 380 Unipart colleagues on site already, it is expected that this number will reach 1,000 by the end of the year as the warehouses gradually fill up.
“The company is keen to see those colleagues experienced in the Unipart ways of working transfer from other sites in their network to support the training of new recruits. They also look forward to welcoming large numbers of new colleagues from the former Land Rover sites.
“Consultations have recently started at the incumbent Land Rover site in Desford where, over the coming weeks, HR and operations colleagues from Unipart will be on hand to discuss career opportunities at Mercia Park and answer any questions from those interested in transferring to the new site.”
