Home Bargains has ramped up productivity at its automated warehouse at Omega Business Park in St Helens, while working on its next new major distribution centre.
The Omega facility, which Home Bargains hailed as “the most sophisticated automated distribution centre in the country” when it opened earlier this year, is now handling 25,000 pallets of stock each week, picking and dispatching almost two million cases, equating to over 50,000 cages of stock and over 1,000 store deliveries. Over 60% of all cases handled have been picked through the DC’s fully automated area.
Operations will continue to ramp up over the coming weeks, ahead of a short pause to focus on peak trade, according to Home Bargains. The ramp-up will resume in January 2026, with the Omega site on track to serve 312 stores by the end of that month.
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Home Bargains is also working on another previously announced new automated DC in Doncaster, planned to open in summer 2028. Once complete, the Doncaster site – a “copy” of the Omega one – will add capacity for 300-plus additional stores, according to the variety discounter.
“The Omega DC is a cornerstone of our strategy to deliver greater efficiency, resilience, and scalability in our supply chain,” said Home Bargains head of logistics Neil Kelson.
“We’re proud to see it already making such a strong impact, and we look forward to building on this success as we expand towards Doncaster and beyond.”
Read more: How Home Bargains is proving king of the variety discounters
Home Bargains, which has three DCs, over 600 stores and 28,000 employees, is also recruiting seasonal staff for the Christmas period, offering “opportunities to join one of the UK’s fastest-growing retailers”, according to a spokesperson.
The retailer aims to eventually have between 800 and 1,000 stores and 35,000 employees.
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