The Newark Advertiser took a look inside the Currys’ Distribution and Repair Centre at Coddington as they prepare for Christmas
This Christmas millions of people across the country will be gifted new tech and electronics by loved ones — but what goes into making sure that everyone gets their presents on time?
Tech-retail giants Currys are one of the biggest employers in the Newark area, and from their National Distribution and Repair Centre, in Coddington, they ship and receive tens of thousands of products a day.
The Advertiser went along to take a look behind the scenes and find out just how the company ensures everything runs smoothly at the busiest time of year for retailers.
Across their 1.5m square foot site, just off the A46 and A1, Currys employs in excess of 2,500 people from across the Newark area, and parts of Lincolnshire.
It is inside of the main warehouse where the true scale of the operation can be seen, with an average of 2.3m units held in stock at any one time, rising to as much as 4.3m in the run up to Christmas.
The retailer’s peak period starts well in advance of the big day and lasts roughly three months, during which time the warehouse handles an average of 2.49m units per week — and on Black Friday weekend alone, just under 300,000 units were dispatched from the site.
During this time the warehouse will handle five to six times more products than on an average day for the rest of the year.
Overseeing the massive operation is director of logistics and home delivery, Simon Boss, who said: “This time of year is always an exciting one for Currys.
“It kicks off with a busy Black Friday, quickly followed by Christmas gifting, and is topped with Boxing Day and beyond.
“It’s also a challenging time, but one which our teams are well-prepared for through months of planning and organisation.
“Our colleagues in Newark and across the Currys network are committed to keeping everything on track and delivering value to our customers.
“In fact, we couldn’t be readier to get that all-important and amazing tech into the hands of our customers this festive period.”
With millions of products to find and ship, it can be a complicated process to ensure customers receive the right items.
Once an order has been made, warehouse colleagues use handheld devices to guide them through hundreds of rows of carefully organised shelving, so that they can locate and pick out the correct items.
A semi-automated system is also used to speed up the process, with small packages able to be transported to the packing station where a machine can also bag the items without intervention, and make them ready to be sent out for delivery.
Close to half a million units are also sent out every week to replenish Currys’ network of over 300 stores — and onn average, an artic lorry laden with products will be dispatched to stores every 22 minutes, with a similar number sent out to the 18 home delivery depots spread across the country.
Speaking the the Advertiser, Currys chief operating officer, Lindsay Haselhurst, said: “Newark is at the beating heart of our business and everything we do.
“We have been here for a long time now and are very grateful for the incredible loyalty and skills of our colleagues.”
She added: “We spend months planning for the festive season. Christmas is a busy time — but it’s a marathon not a sprint.”
Although the industry as a whole has seen a greater shift towards online shopping, Lindsey explained that 55% of their customers still choose to shop in stores.
Just 25% of sales come purely from online — including home delivery — and the final 20% is made up of hybrid customers who choose to either buy in stores but have products delivered, or those that shop online but choose to pick up items in store.
Another equally important part of the Currys operation is the tech repair centre — spanning half a million square feet, it is currently the largest in Europe.
Here, more than 1,100 skilled engineers go about repairing, restoring, or recycling old and damaged tech.
Split into specialised teams, these experts are able to diagnose issues with products and find ways to get them working again — their peak period starts just after the holidays, in January.
The aim is to support a more cyclical economy, which can reduce waste and save money for the business, manufacturers, and the customer.
Often tech is able to be fixed by simply replacing one small part, rather than sending the whole product to landfill.
By working closely with suppliers, technicians have access to specialised tools and knowledge which the average high-street repair shops do not — meaning they have the right tools for the job, whether fixing an iPhone or a fridge-freezer.
There is also an automated library of half a million spare parts, which have been carefully catalogued so that they can be found with ease when needed.
Where parts are not available, Currys has also invested heavily in 3D printing technology. This is used to produce new parts from scratch, in turn cutting costs from pounds to pennies, and stopping an entire item from being scrapped for the sake of one small break.
Repair technician, Dimitris Kefailinos, said: “What we are doing here is innovating to try and make it as affordable as possible.
“We are finding new ways to fix products, and by diagnosing the specific parts which need replacing it makes the whole process quicker and cheaper — it goes from a £500 repair to just £5.
“This is a very unique approach and we invite other companies and manufacturers to come and look at how we do things, which then influences the industry.
“It’s better for the environment, and is affordable for the customer and us. Everybody wins.”
Technicians now also handle roughly 600 calls a day through a new 24/7 helpline service, with the goal of helping customers to fix products in their own homes
The idea came from the workers themselves after teams noticed that a large amount of the tech they had been asked to fix had no physical issues — and in reality 40% of the calls they handle are to do with software problems rather than technical faults.
On top of customer repairs and fixes, around 4,500 products are returned every week and go through a rigorous screening process.
Around two thirds of this tech has no fault whatsoever, while others may need a slight repair or replacement part before they can be re-sold.
Between 800 and 900 pieces of tech are also gathered through the ‘cash for trash’ scheme per week.
Thanks to this work the facility processes around 3m products every year — the majority of which are repaired and returned to customers, re-sold as cheaper refurbished items, or when a product is beyond saving, good parts can be harvested to make other repairs.
Lindsay Haselhurst, said: “We are providing new solutions and extending the life of products.
“We have been doing repairs for 30 years and through innovation and increasing the effectiveness of the process, a service which was originally set up at cost is no longer an expense, it’s an opportunity.
“It’s an opportunity to have a greener Christmas where products have been refurbished and made good as new.
“The savings we make can be passed on the customers and it’s a win win for everyone — manufacturers are taking note of how we do things here and we are having a real impact on the industry.
“But ultimately, this is about giving our customers a choice.
“They can buy new if they want to, but now they also have the option of trading in their old tech and knowing that is will continue to be used in some way.
“It’s a circular economy — it’s consumerism with a conscience.”
