St Austell Brewery’s new Cornwall Distribution Centre (DC) began operations today as the regional hub for storage and distribution to all of the 2,000 pubs, clubs, hotels and other licensed premises supplied by the Brewery in Cornwall.
The brewery announced in September that it was making a major investment in its highly successful wholesale drinks business by taking over the huge purpose-built warehouse and distribution centre in St Columb Major Business Park.
MD James Staughton said: “We’re very pleased with the modern and spacious new facilities and it was exciting to see the first delivery drays rolling out of the new centre this morning. This is a significant investment by the brewery and something which will help us serve our customers more effectively and efficiently and ensure we maintain our position as the best wholesale supplier in the region.”
The new centre is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and is replacing existing depots at Bude, Newquay, Redruth and St Austell, providing double the previous available floor space and meaning St Austell Brewery – already the South West’s largest wholesale distributor of beer, wines, spirits and soft drinks to the licensed trade – is well placed to further grow this part of its business.
The St Austell Brewery site will remain the headquarters for the business and will continue to be where St Austell Ales are brewed. It is hoped that the opening of the new DC will free up much-needed space to continue expanding brewing capacity in the coming years and also to install a bottling line for St Austell Brewery bottled beers.
As well as revolutionising the wholesale side of its business the new DC is also bringing a number of added environmental benefits in line with St Austell Brewery’s aim to be one of the UK’s greenest brewers and pub companies. The company says that traffic movements through St Austell town centre and the surrounding area will be significantly reduced and the use of a centralised distribution system with computerised route planning will cut the road miles travelled each year by delivery drays.
