Dunelm ready for DIRFT move

Dunelm Group Plc is set to move into its new Daventry (UK) warehouse at Prologis RFI DIRFT this December, creating up to 70 new jobs in the local area by the end of January 2022.  The new site will be helping the retailer meet customer demand ahead of the festive period and then from January will be become a key element in the growth of Dunelm’s furniture business and providing better delivery service levels.

The move supports Dunelm’s focus on innovating and improving its customer proposition, as well as the growth in home delivery and click & collect operations that resulted from the pandemic.

Dunelm is one of the country’s leading homeware retailers, operating 175 shops across the UK. The company has taken a 10-year lease on the new logistics building at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) in the East Midlands, the leading rail served logistics park in the UK, which will be home to the Dunelm Home Delivery network and furniture range.

Classed as a nationally significant infrastructure project, DIRFT is one of the most successful intermodal (road/rail) logistics parks in the UK. From its location in the logistics ‘golden triangle’, at the heart of the UK’s motorway and rail network, the site has excellent road links to the M1 and M6 motorways, and to the West Coast Main Line. Home to household names such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco, the site’s transport links have played a significant role in keeping goods and services flowing around the country during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to do so during the current supply chain crisis.

“We’ve worked with Dunelm for a long time, and seeing this project come to completion is testament to the strength of our relationship,” said Tom Price, capital deployment and leasing director at Prologis UK. “The new facility will be pivotal in helping the business further grow its online retail operations and create a significant number of jobs for the local area. DIRFT continues to be an incredibly popular prospect for businesses looking to harness the power of multimodal freight and further extensions to the site will provide even more opportunities for businesses which want to strengthen their presence in the golden triangle.”

Dunelm’s new building will also reflect the company’s ambitious targets around sustainability and carbon reduction, with an EPC ‘A24’ rating, a BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’ and features such as 15% roof lights, rainwater harvesting, and LED lighting. The building has also had its environmental credentials certified by The Planet Mark and is mitigating 100% of the embodied carbon involved in its construction. Thanks to Prologis’ partnership with climate action charity, Cool Earth, the construction of DIRFT III DC4 will help protect 136 acres of rainforest, over 30,000 trees, and support 652 people in Sololo, Southern Papua New Guinea.

Richard Street, Supply Chain Development Director, Dunelm Group PLC, said: “Our new DIRFT warehouse facility is an important move for Dunelm – not only is the location excellent for better serving our customer needs but the new site will make a significant contribution to our improving our environmental footprint.”