Home Bargains breaks ground on Doncaster DC
The facility will span circa 1 million sq ft and is expected to be operational by mid-2028, with McLaren Construction main contractor. Witron will take charge of the warehouse automation implementation.
By Simon Duddy, Editor, Logistics Matters
CONSTRUCTION IS set for completion in October 2026. Upon completion, the facility will hand over to Witron for installation of automated picking equipment. The site will be highly automated and will service 300+ Home Bargains stores by mid 2028.
The Distribution Centre in Doncaster has the same design as the facility in St Helens, which becomes operational in May 2025, with all product groups and logistics areas – from receiving to truck loading – integrated end-to-end into the highly automated overall process. All processes are controlled by Witron software and the material flow includes 470,000 pallet, tray, and tote storage locations, 104 stacker cranes, as well as more than 15 kilometres of conveyors.
Witron’s UK sales manager Duncan Pointon, says: “In addition to the benefits for consumers in the stores, a decisive criterion for TJ Morris was also the focus on warehouse employees. They will benefit from state-of-the-art, ergonomic workstations, which is an enormous competitive advantage in times of labour shortages.
“In addition, the issue of sustainability, is addressed in many different ways – for example through significant CO2 savings due to densely packed load carriers, optimal truck utilisation, and fewer trucks on the roads.”
Unity Yorkshire is a flagship mixed-use regeneration project, located directly off Junction 5 of the M18/M180 motorway interchange.
