Wilko Distribution Centres

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18 November 2021

Summary

With current labour challenges across the sector, Wilko Retail Ltd were facing a team member short fall on the run up to peak Christmas demand in their two distribution centres at Worksop in Nottinghamshire and Magor in Newport.

Our merchandising team identified an opportunity to work collaboratively with Wilko to help support their requirements at a time when merchandising in-store is traditionally quieter, to reduce customer disruption during a key sales period.

Challenges

Distribution centres have lots of new Health and Safety challenges, such as lorry routes and forklift truck movements that the teams were not used to working with.

The team received extensive training beforehand and they were then able to support in a number of roles including picking stock, loading store deliveries, offloading containers and organising recycling and salvage.

Results

The Bluestones One merchandising team were able to support both distribution centres with up to 60 people, around the clock, over a 7-week period to help fulfil their peak demand.

This will now become a successful seasonal collaboration and opportunity for both businesses going forward.

Daniel Fairly wins Employee of the Month for August

This month, we are proud to recognise Daniel Fairly as our Employee of the Month for August, for his outstanding work ethic and attention to detail.

Celebrating BIG Awards 2021

Bluestones One is part of Bluestones Investment Group (BIG), and in November, Bluestones Group celebrated another successful year at the annual BIG Awards evening at Chester Racecourse. This year, brands from across the Group, as well as the central support services, came together for an evening of food, drink, live music, casino fun, and to recognise achievements. Over 20 winners were recognised for their achievements during 2021, which included top-performing consultants and brands, and the people who embody the Group values of Passion, Accountability, Collaboration and Enjoyment. This year, Bluestones One were delighted to win the Overall Profitability Award. This is a fantastic achievement for the team as it highlights their hard work and determination over the past year. So a huge congratulations and well done goes to the Bluestones One team! Every year, all award winners are treated to an award winners’ trip and this year it was revealed that winners will be jetting off to Dubai in 2022. Bluestones One team members Managing Director, Gary White; Operations Director, Gary Lowe; Director, Ashley Jewitt; and Operations Manager, Richard Jones also received awards last year for Outstanding Achievement. Prior to this, Bluestones One also won Best New Business in 2019.