A £16 million new base for wholesaler Bidvest 3663 has opened in Chepstow.

Former depots on the Severnbridge Industrial Estate in Caldicot and in Bristol have been 'consolidated' in the new facility.

The depot is the business' largest regional distribution centre and is part of a multi-million pound investment plan in its local depot network.

The 170,000sq ft distribution centre on the Newhouse Industrial Estate is a response to continued sales growth in the south west and Wales. 

The Chepstow depot will serve customers throughout South Wales and the West Country and support other Bidvest 3663 sites with its extensive frozen product range.  

The depot will stock around 5,100 product lines and a fleet of 30 space-efficient vehicles will make approximately 1,700 deliveries per week, distributing over 70,000 items.

To maximise efficiency, the planned voice-picking technology will ensure consistent order accuracy and a new customer support system will handle incoming calls.

Dave Hodgson, Bidvest 3663 Midlands managing director, said: "These new distribution facilities are part of our investment strategy for growth based on boosting service levels and future-proofing our local and national depot network.

"We chose the new sites as we are committed to having a comprehensive customer offering in Wales.

"We also wanted to make sure that we were able to retain the exceptional workforce from two top performing depots.

"Recent new account wins, securing category supply agreements with leading regional and national customers and growth from the independent sector means that improving efficiencies and delivering top customer service is more important than ever.

"By investing in a high specification depot with state-of-the-art facilities and amalgamating teams from Bristol and Severnbridge, we aim to meet these challenges and push service levels even further."

Chepstow is the first of the wholesaler's new sites to have solar panels on the roof which deliver electricity to the depot and back to the grid. Other green solutions include motion sensor lighting to save electricity, a highly-efficient cooling system and fast close warehouse doors to maintain temperature control, all of which will be monitored by a computerised system.

A behind-the-scenes look at the new depot can be seen at http://www.youtube">www.youtube. com.