NSW Premier opens Hoxton Park Logistics Precinct Thursday, 9 August 2012: Premier of New South Wales and Minister for Western Sydney, Barry O’Farrell, today joined Woolworths Limited and Mirvac in unveiling a $250 million investment in huge sheds with the latest technology that will take retail logistics to the next level, while creating hundreds of new jobs in Western Sydney. The Hoxton Park Logistics Precinct in Sydney’s south‐west is one of Australia’s largest industrial developments and home of the new distribution centres for BIG W and Woolworths’ new business, Masters Home Improvement. Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Barry O’Farrell said: “I congratulate Mirvac and Woolworths for choosing Western Sydney for this major investment which is a huge endorsement of the region’s manufacturing, transport and logistics sectors. “The Woolworths Distribution Centre will be home to hundreds of new jobs in Western Sydney, on top of the many thousands of people the company employs across NSW. “The NSW Government is committed to attracting new investment and providing the vital infrastructure to this vibrant region, providing more opportunities for people to work close to where they live,” he said. Mirvac Managing Director, Nicholas Collishaw, said “This is one of the largest industrial developments undertaken in Australia. The distribution centre is impressive not only for its sheer size, but for the modern and sustainable design and the extremely efficient operation it facilitates. I would like to thank Woolworths for sharing our vision to build this cutting edge facility,” Mr Collishaw concluded. Woolworths CEO Grant O’Brien said: “This is an investment in world leading technology and facilities that really raises the bar in speed, accuracy and efficiency, helping BIG W and Masters to do an even better job of delivering for our customers. “Seventeen years ago, BIG W moved away from our Sydney based distribution centres in Warwick Farm and Smithfield because it made better sense to service the eastern seaboard from a larger facility in Warwick in Queensland. “With growing customer demand, store networks and a growing online business, as well as our investment in Masters, Woolworths needed a new space with the very latest technology and we’re proud to be back in Western Sydney in a BIG way,” he said. Cont 2/……. Some facts about the Hoxton Park Logistics Precinct: •
The project created around 1,400 jobs in construction and has already created an additional 360 jobs in the distribution centres – a figure that will grow as new Masters Home Improvement stores are rolled out across Australia. •
Together the BIG W and Masters facilities have the combined floor space of around 18 rugby fields , around three times the floor space of the Sydney Opera House. •
The technology includes the goods to person system with multi‐shuttle robots can pick items at five times the speed of older systems, while a new cross belt sorter that can sort 8,000 cartons an hour, significantly reducing the need for storage. •
The BIG W facility houses more than 10,000 different products and will this year deliver 400,000 bags of potting mix, 4 million t‐shirts, 5 million books, 10 million pairs of underwear and enough Lego to build 4 double story houses, to 64 BIG W stores across NSW, Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania. •
By locating a new Distribution Centre in Western Sydney, Woolworths Limited will save 5 million kilometres of driving and in the process will also save around 2.5 million litres of diesel and around 6,725,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions. **Ends** For further information please contact: Woolworths Press Office ph (02) 8885 1033 Mirvac (Rosalie Duff) ph (02) 9080 8397