Booming Batley bathroom company completes switch to new headquarters in Wakefield - with creation of 200 jobs

The switch to a purpose-built 330,000 sq. ft. site, off Park, Peel Avenue, is part of a huge ongoing expansion of the West Yorkshire business, with the brand growing by 50% year-on-year and its turnover set to top £105m by the end of 2023.

The opening of the company’s new headquarters will create 200 jobs by the end of the year as well as inject over £9m into the local economy in 2022, with £1m set to be paid in business rates alone to Wakefield Council, per annum.

Founder, Craig Waddington, was named as one of The Times’ Most Ambitious Business Leaders in 2022, said: “Having grown up in Huddersfield and coming from a humble background, it’s sometimes difficult to believe what my team and I have built – an organisation that provides employment for 700+ people and supports thousands even more across our supply chain.

“The retail industry, and the bathroom sector in particular, has struggled over recent years, with the closure of 17,000 chain stores in 2021. We are proud to buck this trend and continue with the opening of our bricks and mortar showrooms, underpinned by the new HQ.

“We will be able to offer better experiences for customers across delivery, product choice and service, and we look forward to unlocking even further growth.”

The new venue has the capacity to store £100m worth of stock across 63,000 pallets, doubling its current volume as well as housing Easy Bathrooms’ same day click and collect counter and a brand-new clearance outlet.

The site also has a £1.8m sprinkler system, high security biometric access, an energy efficient heat recirculation system, 382 parking spaces, 80 bike spaces, Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) racking, which utilises the latest technology, and 2,000 m2 of office space for 240 head office staff.

The new VNA system is a high-density storage system that increases capacity by 40% without expanding the space.

Specialist fork trucks then take advantage of an Auto Positioning System (APS), meaning workers can input the coordinates of a product and the truck will guide them by radio frequency ID wires to the correct position.