Ocado warehouse closure puts 2,300 jobs under threat

The company hopes to relocate as many employees as possible to other centres, including its new site in Luton. The move comes as retailers are increasingly turning to robotic customer fulfilment centres, which are more efficient. READ MORE: Ocado Retail ‘small restructure’ results in 40 head office job losses Ocado expects the closure of the Hatfield site, its first fulfilment centre, to have no impact on the volume of orders it processes. The site currently handles around one-fifth of the 400,000 weekly orders processed by Ocado. After it closes, these orders will be redirected to other "high-productivity, next-generation facilities" across the UK, including the new Luton site set to open later this year. Ocado's latest automated fulfilment centres can pick over 200 units per labour hour, compared to around 150 units per labour hour for the Hatfield site. The newer centres also have better capacity to handle same-day deliveries and are more energy-efficient. Ocado CEO Tim Steiner said now is the right time to halt operations at Hatfield and consider "future options for the site". A consultation process has begun for affected staff, although the company expects to retain a large proportion of its colleagues.