Ocado
Ocado has announced it will build a new centre in Erith, south east London. Reuters

Ocado, the British online supermarket, has announced it will be opening a distribution centre in London that could create up to 1,000 new jobs.

The centre, which is being funded via a £98.8m (€132m, $149m) investment from Tritax Big Box REIT, will be situated in Erith, in the south east of the capital. Ocado will lease the property on a 30-year contract.

Although nothing is officially set in stone as of yet, Ocado is hoping to begin building in 2016 and have it up and running the following year.

Such has been the growing demand for online grocers, which has only exacerbated the crises that the physical stores such as Tesco and Morrisons are experiencing, it will be the second distribution centre Ocado has opened within three years if it is completed in 2017, taking its total to four since its inception in 2001.

With the switch to online retail becoming more common, Tesco has announced it will be closing down 43 stores across the UK in a massive cost-cutting drive. Some 2,000 staff will lose their jobs as a result.

Related