Within the UK’s so-called ‘Golden Logistics Triangle’ a high-specification facility in Corby has quietly redefined what modern third-party logistics looks like. David Priestman made a site visit.
Europa Warehouse’s flagship site, opened in June 2020 and fully-operational for five years, stands not only as a testament to resilience under pressure, but also as a blueprint for scalable, technology-driven warehousing. Built on a former British Steel quarry that had lain dormant for years, the £60 million development transformed a 25-acre site into a 750,000 sq. ft logistics powerhouse with 49 loading bay docks and three 30,000 sq. ft mezzanines, demarcated into different zones.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic’s disruption, the facility was completed and commissioned ahead of schedule — an early indicator of the operational discipline that would come to define its performance. Sectors now served mainly include food and drink, nutrition, apparel, consumer goods and packaging, with clients in the drinks industry such as Beer52, Naked Wines, Beerwulf and Laylo. There are 19 brands/customers whose stock is managed here and Europa are tendering for more wins.
Scaling Smart
£11 million of the overall investment went into automation, with PSB Intralogistics as the system integrator. PSB installed the automated storage system, which holds 36000 totes and has 60 lifts, as well as the conveying, ten picking stations including the Rotapick machine (which alone costs £750,000 – see image below). Designed to support a sole occupant and now a flexible 3PL model, the automation system enables clients to scale operations up or down in response to fluctuating demand, a critical capability in today’s volatile supply chains. The Europa team are certain that they fully understand the system and can maximise its performance.
The facility’s physical design also pushes the boundaries of traditional warehousing. While a typical warehouse might accommodate around 90,000 pallets across seven storage levels, Corby has been engineered for maximum utilisation. With nine aisles of pallet racking reaching the regulatory height limit of 18 metres, and very narrow aisle (VNA) equipment in operation, the site can accommodate a blended average of 100,000 pallets, handling both British and European pallet specifications. There is an opportunity to expand the automated storage system further.
Efficiency Collaboration
Dionne Redpath (pictured, below) is the Chief Operating Officer and Warehouse Divisional Director at Europa Worldwide Group. She tells me that the secret behind having flexibility for customers to vary pick volumes due to peaks and demand changes, growth and decline lie within good customer relationships and the core processes adopted together. “If you have a customer with rock-solid forecasting then you’re able to build out really solid plans that insure capacity when its needed. We’re refining and becoming more accurate together. We need to be able to pick the right product at the right time. Forecasting isn’t just the total numbers, but what products they are expecting to sell and on what day, to avoid in-day replenishments.” There are lots of seasonal products stored here and half are for ecommerce.
“Originally the automation system was for one customer occupant, but we then migrated to a multi-user environment for drinks and health supplements,” she says, stating that this is probably the only sharer user automation system around. “It gives us a dynamic edge in the marketplace. We attract customers who are looking for ecommerce, agility and those with similar business values, like entrepreneurship, or might not feel at home in a more corporate environment. They like the friendly, family spirit we embody. Businesses starting on their journey are looking for guidance from a partner that has experienced a lot of what the ecommerce landscape has got to offer. It’s challenging.”
Workforce for Modern Logistics
Today, the Corby site employs a 170-strong team spanning operatives, forklift drivers, flow managers and engineers. Some joined as agency workers and have since progressed to management roles, now playing an active role in mentoring and developing others. “We have a unique culture which is can-do, sleeves-up. We promote from within,” Redpath says. “Typically, in a 3PL staff are siloed into individual roles, whereas we’re team-based. There’s a core skills matrix but also core specialisms. People develop as it’s a dynamic environment and we’re very proud of them.” Reflecting both the local community and the international nature of the logistics sector, the workforce represents a wide range of nationalities.
Checking the Top Shelf
Traceability and transparency are central to the model. From the moment goods arrive, they are fully tracked through to dispatch, with automated systems handling picking, packing and delivery. Clients benefit from real-time access to Europa Warehouse’s order fulfilment platform, providing live visibility over stock levels, outbound shipments and returns. Infios’ HighJump WMS is central to the operation. “It’s a very configurable system, meaning you can design it to suit any business. We share all our data outputs daily via EDI and APIs with customers, garnering KPIs, for example for inbound receipt, picking and despatched notifications,” Redpath informs me. This integration of automation and data-driven oversight ensures not only speed and accuracy but also cost efficiency — key priorities for businesses navigating increasingly complex distribution networks.
A Dexory bot (pictured, below) was added last November and has been deployed since December to scan the entire DC off-peak, covering every single pallet position each week. “You can schedule it with the Dexory team, create and zone it with many configurations. We’re swapping it to the 18m mast version soon,” Redpath informs, so it can reach the highest pallet locations. A digital twin is made by DexoryView when the bot does the rudimentary stock checks. “It removes the manual front end associated with stock maintenance. The team (of 8 with 1 manager) are taking the outputs of data analysis and using it for investigations and troubleshooting, modifications and changing sku locations. It’s an ongoing voyage of discovery,” Redpath states.
Supporting Growth Across Sectors
The hub offers strong connectivity to pallet and parcel distribution networks, as well as seamless integration with Europa’s air and sea freight operations. This multimodal capability enables the facility to support a diverse client base across B2B and direct-to-consumer channels. Since its launch, the facility has achieved several key milestones, including processing more than five million orders annually and introducing a pioneering shared-user automation solution. It also holds HMRC Wet and Dry Bond accreditation, enabling efficient handling of customs bonded goods. This is particularly useful to alcohol suppliers as the duty is not paid until it leaves the DC, when a customs transaction is created.
The Shed Ahead
As the Corby warehouse reaches its sixth anniversary in June, it stands as the largest and most technologically advanced facility in Europa Warehouse’s UK portfolio. More importantly, it represents a shift in how logistics providers think about space, systems and scalability. Redpath and her team are currently assessing all the materials handling equipment used, as well as considering replacing or enhancing some manual picking lines with more automation. But she’s coy on what the outcome will be.
“Automation is fantastic, but you can spend a lot of money when what matters the most is how much value it will deliver. Will it avert us needing an unattainable number of staff? This site has a capacity of how many people it’s feasible to operate here. We’ve embraced a number of technologies and need to drive out costs and improve throughput,” she concludes. “That’s where we spend our time and research. We were contemplating the effectiveness of robotic arms for some operations, but we’re not quite there yet. PSB have plenty of different solutions that differ from what we do today.”
A solar PV project is possible for the roof as part of the modernisation ahead and the mezzanine structure can be extended across the front of the building, making it double its current size, as well as adding more racking. In an era where supply chains must be both resilient and responsive, this DC offers a compelling case study: a warehouse designed not just for storage, but for strategic advantage.
