Grocery giant expands

SUPERMARKET group Musgrave is to create 200 jobs with a €34million investment in its retail distribution operation.

The Musgrave SuperValu-Centra group has submitted a planning application for a new 150,000sqft warehousing and distribution operation on a 21-acre site in Kilcock, Co Kildare.

The development is the biggest investment in distribution facilities on a single site in the Republic of Ireland by the privately-owned company.

The Kilcock centre will comprise warehousing, loading bays, offices, canteen and associated facilities.

It will provide up to 200 jobs when fully operational, and ancillary jobs during development. The developer is the Bennett Group, and Musgrave SuperValu-Centra aims to have the centre operational by mid-2004.

Musgrave SuperValu-Centra needs to enhance its logistics infrastructure because of the group’s growth and expansion. Store numbers, more than 500 in the Republic of Ireland, are increasing, and the independent SuperValu and Centra retailers’ turnover grew 17% in 2001 to 2.1 billion.

The Kilcock site was chosen for its proximity to the N4, the construction of the Kilcock interchange, proximity to SuperValu and Centra outlets, and availability of a local workforce.

A 65,000sqft chilled distribution centre is operated by Musgrave SuperValu-Centra at Fonthill Rd, Lucan, Dublin, with a 55,000sqft chill facility in Cork. More than 220,000sqft of ambient warehousing is managed by the company in Cork and Galway.

The Kilcock centre will consolidate MSVC as the supermarket group with the largest centralised distribution network in Ireland.