Majestic Wine will open a new distribution centre in Hemel Hempstead on Monday as part of plans to grow its estate by a third and ramp up sales through commercial accounts and online.

The 63,000 sq ft depot is more than double the size of the Watford DC it is replacing. It would have the capacity to handle twice the volumes and “future proof” the operation, Majestic said.

The company, which currently has 206 stores, has a target of 330 stores, with 16 planned to open by 2015. It also wants to grow online to 15% of all transactions, up from 11.4%, and ramp up sales to the on-trade through its Majestic Commercial arm, which increased sales by 20% in the year to 31 March 2014.

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