US Online home goods giant chooses Northallerton's BT Distribution Centre for UK orders

£350,000 deal will expand local workforce

BT’s distribution centre in Northallerton is to manage the UK warehousing and despatch services of the biggest online retailer of home goods in the United States.

The £350,000 deal with US firm Wayfair will initially create around five new full time jobs with that figure expected to more than double by the end of the year.

Steve Davies, Wayfair’s warehousing and incidence reduction manager, said: “Due to the ongoing success of both Wayfair and our sister company Joss and Main, we needed a logistics partner who could support our current operation and ambitious European growth plans.

“BT Supply Chain, with their skills and capabilities in various distribution models, proved to be the best choice for our operations.In just a short time, we have already experienced a significant upturn in many of our key metrics that enable us to provide the best possible customer experience. We look forward to working with BT going forward and believe this deal will be of great value to our UK supply chain.”

This latest boost to the 150 strong workforce reinforces the North Yorkshire depot’s position as BT’s second largest UK supply chain centre, which is already responsible for processing and distributing more than 20,000 customer orders per day.

BT staff will be handling everything from sofas and vases to the kitchen sink in addition to the usual broadband hubs, BT TV boxes and other electronics.

Nick Hale, managing director of BT Supply Chain, said: “This is more good news for Northallerton and for BT Supply Chain.

“Logistically, Northallerton has enabled us to provide the ideal solution to meet Wayfair’s requirements but the high calibre of our highly-trained workforce enabled us to assure Wayfair we could meet the peaks in demand that are part and parcel of their business.

“This deal will allow us to continue maintaining and growing our presence in Northallerton during the next few years.”

In March last year, BT announced plans due to introduce a traineeship programme at the distribution centre and to take on more apprentices. Currently, three apprentices are working at the depot and a group of five trainees is working its way through a six week “warehouse operations traineeship programme”, which results in a formal accreditation and a very realistic chance of a permanent job offer for successful candidates.

Tom Keeney, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “It’s fantastic news that BT Supply Chain continue to develop, grow and expand their operations in Northallerton. This contract with Wayfair is testament to the hard work of all the staff who have each contributed to the ongoing success and growth of the business.”

Ends

Contact

For further information about this news release please contact the BT regional press office on 0800 085 0660. All our news releases can be read at www.bt.com/newscentre

About Wayfair

Wayfair Inc. is one of the world’s largest online destinations for home furnishings and décor, offering an extensive selection of home goods across all styles and price points. The Wayfair family of brands includes:

• Wayfair, an online destination for all things home
• Joss & Main, an online flash sales site offering inspiring home design daily
• AllModern, a go-to online source for modern design
• DwellStudio, a design house for fashion-forward modern furnishings
• Birch Lane, a collection of classic furnishings and timeless home décor

Wayfair is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with additional locations in New York, Ogden, Utah, Hebron, Kentucky, Galway, Ireland, London, Berlin and Sydney.

About BT

BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world.It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five customer-facing lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2015, BT Group’s reported revenue was £17,979mwith reported profit before taxation of £2,645m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com.