Case study
JD SPORTS Case study
When leading UK fashion retailer JD Sports understood the changes following Brexit, they realised that they needed to open a new large-scale European retail fulfilment centre in Belgium.
The unusual circumstances meant that at best they only had 1 year to do it. They also knew that they had set themselves the most demanding of deadlines. The other main complication was that the entire start-up had to be conducted in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic. This combined with the deadline meant it was an extremely demanding task.
JD Sports contacted Widem Logistics and asked if the challenge was achievable. The team at Widem didn’t hesitate. The 75000 ft² fulfilment site was built and fitted-out within budget and on time for opening early May 2020. Just 4 weeks later JD Sports had £3 million worth of stock warehoused. Within 5 months’ time the operating staff grew to 250 FTE picking 250K orders per week and servicing 400 stores across Europe.
“Would I use Widem again?
100%. They are a fantastic group of people not just fantastic operators.”
“Widem are a very professional logistics and supply chain business. I had the privilege of working with the team in Belgium. Their ability to react to the requirements that we asked of them was astounding. Because of their agility and knowledge of the European logistics landscape they were quickly able to mobilise a team to build, fit out and ultimately operate a site in Belgium.”
Carl Heathcote
“They managed to do this whilst navigating COVID. Without Widem’s knowledge, resourcefulness and dedication to the project we would never have opened on time.”
“Operationally they managed and ran the site exceptionally well. Always conscious of costs, performance and ultimately customer satisfaction. Nothing was too much, even when presented with honestly some quite bizarre requests from myself!”
“Widem always approached the relationship as a collaboration not as a third-party logistics provider. They always looked at ways that the operation could improve even if it didn't give them an immediate benefit. They were never afraid to invest in something if it helped the customer experience. These are some of the many things that separates them from others in the current 3pl marketplace.”