Ocado has drawn up a short list of possible distribution centres that would provide it with a third, giant warehouse.
The grocery delivery firm is considering sites of around 350,000 square feet near Leeds and Manchester and could possibly announce further details in the coming weeks.
Ocado identified 14 possible sites before Christmas and that is understood to have be reduced further in recent weeks.
They include the Logistics North development on the site of the Cutacre colliery near Bolton. The massive park is understood to have been so big it required consent from Salford, Bolton and Wigan to clear its planning hurdles, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Other sites include Rochdale, Runcorn, Skelsmersdale and Warrington.
Infrastructure building on the site begins in Spring. A third centre in the north east or West Yorkshire would be ideal for Ocado's new partner Morrisons to deliver to its heartland customers in the north.
A third site would provide Ocado with several evenly spread centres forming a spine up the country. Ocado has two other centres: one in Hatfield, 15 miles north of London, and one in Dordon, near Tamworth in the West Midlands which it shares with Morrisons on a 50:50 basis.
The two existing centres are highly automated centres which are used to pack customer orders which are then placed on vans or articulated lorries for distribution.
Ocado already has about a dozen 'hub' warehouses near both Manchester and Leeds which act as satellites to its main centres. These channel packed orders from its main centres into Sprinter vans to deliver to customers homes.
It is already extending capacity at its Dordon centre, which became operational last year, by 50 per cent so it will be able to accommodate 180,000 orders a week later this year. The Hatfield centre can manage about 150,000 orders a week.
The grocery firm is also understood to be researching another possible centre in the south east - probably west or south of London and outside the M25.
Ocado increases its weekly order numbers by around 30,000 every year but that is expected to increase following its partnership with Morrisons.
Morrisons food is delivered seperately in Morrisons branded vans. Ocado's website mainly sells Waitrose products as well as its own Ocado branded goods.
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