Warehouses and Head Office

Waitrose Warehouses and Head Office.

By the early 1920s there were twenty four small Waitrose grocery shops in and around London. The company also became wholesale as well as retail grocers, thus it was necessary to have separate warehouse and head office space. Early Waitrose warehouses were at Vulcan Buildings in London EC4, and in Addington Square in Camberwell. With increasing pressure on existing stock rooms at Gloucester Road, Southend and Covent Garden, larger warehouse premises were acquired through the purchase of a company called Hofland Creamery. For a short time Waitrose merchandise was transported by lorries with the name Hofland Supplies Ltd on the side.

Another warehouse site was acquired at Greenford in 1959, which incorporated packing units for foods like dried fruits, rice and cereals. In 1971 Waitrose achieved a turnover of £1m in one week.  With rapid expansion, Waitrose was fast outgrowing its warehouses. The move to Bracknell began the same year, with the fruit and vegetable warehouses moving from Woodley to Bracknell and management Partners taking over their new headquarters. For the first time all central departments, apart from the main warehouse, were under one roof.