The Co-op has extended its contract with leading supply chain partner for UK supermarkets, Wincanton, for another five years.
The deal builds on more than three decades of collaboration between the convenience retailer and the logistics provider.
Under the new five-year agreement, Wincanton will continue to provide warehouse management and distribution services from a 340,000 sq ft Co-op regional distribution centre in Wellingborough.
Wincanton has managed this operation for the supermarket since 2019.
The company will also continue to handle the Co-op’s transport, delivering upwards of 750,000 cases per week to nearly 350 c-stores across the Midlands, south east and east of England – including chilled, ambient and frozen goods.
Wincanton had allotted over 600 colleagues to continue to support the contract and “provide best-in-class service for Co-op’s member-owners and customers”, it said.
“We are delighted to extend our long-standing relationship with Co-op and look forward to continuing to provide outstanding service, which we’re seeking to enhance even further,” said James Hurrell, MD of grocery and consumer at Wincanton.
“Our values around safety, social value and sustainability align with those of Co-op making this a truly collaborative partnership in every sense.”
Ian Gibb, director of logistics at Co-op, added: “We are pleased to extend our long-term relationship with Wincanton.
“Working closely with our partners, our depots play a vital role in ensuring that Co-op products are freshly delivered and conveniently available in towns, villages and cities across the UK – when and where our member-owners and customers shop with us.”
Wincanton also won the Co-op’s Social Value Leaders Award at the supermarket’s Difference Awards in June this year.
The trajectory of the logistics business, which has been serving the British supermarket industry for over a century, was up in the air after it went private earlier this year.
Wincanton was one of the oldest London-listed public companies before being sold to US giant GXO Logistics for more than £750m in February.
The deal followed a bidding war between GXO and French multinational Ceva, rocking the industry and showcasing the importance of the Wiltshire business in the international logistics landscape.
The new owners have reiterated they want to keep prioritising Wincanton’s relationships with retailers.
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