Meal-kit giant HelloFresh to be first occupier at high-tech food campus

Meal-kit specialist HelloFresh is set to bring hundreds of jobs to the city after being confirmed as the first occupier on a new high-tech food campus.

The multi-national company will create 450 jobs when it opens its new distribution centre at SmartParc SEGRO Spondon in late spring.

It will be the first business to set up shop at the state-of-the-art high-tech food manufacturing and distribution campus, which is being created on the former British Celanese site.

Once complete, the development will cover 1.85 million sq ft and employ around 5,000 people.

Councillor Chris Poulter, leader of Derby City Council, said: “HelloFresh is a huge name, and choosing our city as their new home is testament to our strong reputation for innovation and manufacturing – Derby has a lot to offer.”

Laurent Guillemain, chief executive of HelloFresh UK, said: “We are really excited to be opening this new distribution centre in Derby and getting to know the local community.

“It’s also fantastic to be one of the first major brands to join SmartParc. The campus sets a precedent for the best in sustainable design and collaboration.”

HelloFresh’s distribution site at SmartParc SEGRO Spondon will be called The Orchard.

Mr Guillemain said that the location and surrounding area was part of the big attraction of moving to Derby.

He said: “We are very excited about it. It should bring strong collaboration in terms of sustainability.

“Location is incredibly important for production facilities and distribution facilities.

“There are going to be hundreds of thousands of boxes coming out of here every year.

“We’ve chosen somewhere which is close to the Midlands and close to our courier operations.”

SmartParc SEGRO Spondon will create the first low-carbon food manufacturing community.

It aims to pave the way for the food industry to collaborate to meet the challenges of sustainable production, while also addressing the need for efficient direct routes to consumers.

It will also be home to a Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence to future-proof the food industry, offering education and career opportunities to secure both the local and global food supply chains.

Mr Guillemain added: “The ethos of bringing people and businesses together to meet the challenges of sustainable food production, while providing opportunities for the local area, align perfectly with our own values and we’re excited to join this community.

“We look forward to working with the people of Derby, and encourage them to join us – particularly, if they are interested in changing the way that people eat, forever.”

Planning permission for the development was granted last year, with funding contributions from the city council and D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – the latter allocating £12 million towards the project from the Government’s Getting Building Fund.

The campus will provide food manufacturing facilities, from start-up incubation units through to large-scale manufacturing facilities, ranging from 50,000 sq ft to 400,000 sq ft.

Councillor Poulter said: “The council has been working with the team at SmartParc for some time now, and it’s really exciting to see those efforts come to fruition.

“Welcoming HelloFresh will bring good quality, sustainable jobs to the city, which ultimately means income and opportunity for our people and their families.”

Paul Simpson, chief executive at the city council, said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to support this move through our work with SmartParc.

“The council has already allocated £5.5 million towards the project and was successful in securing £12 million of D2N2 funding, to help with the reclamation of a major brownfield site in the city.

“HelloFresh is just the kind of organisation we want to attract to Derby, with sustainability and social value at the heart of their ethos, which is brilliant to see.

“Not only are these attributes a key strand of our council plan, it’s something that we should all strive towards as businesses and individuals, to ensure a more sustainable future.”

Speaking on behalf of SmartParc SEGRO Spondon, SmartParc founder and chief executive Jackie Wild said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome HelloFresh as our first anchor client in this ground-breaking new SmartParc development.

“They share our ambition to see food businesses operate in a more sustainable way, and to build close links with the Derby community.

“We look forward to developing our partnership with them over the next few years, and to delivering all the commercial, operational and environmental benefits that SmartParc is uniquely able to provide.”

Kathryn Allen, head of investment at Marketing Derby, said: “We worked very closely with SmartParc over a period of time to warm the team up to the advantages of locating in the area.

“We are really delighted to see how quickly the concept is progressing with a top-quality end user already signed up.”