Feb 2005

As readers travelling regularly on the M6 may already have noticed, grocery home delivery giant Ocado has extended its delivery area to the North West (a move that came after we had closed for press with the last Fulfilment & e.logistics). Its area of coverage now includes Manchester, Liverpool and parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire and Clwyd, as well as the South East and the Midlands.

It was always assumed that the massive capacity of the company's 370,000 sq ft automated fulfilment centre in Hatfield would eventually equip it to serve areas far beyond its immediate hinterland. Ocado says it can now deliver to a third of all UK households - half the total it was reported to regard as its ultimate target when it went live three years ago.