Tesco to create 'urban fulfilment centre' at Bradford city centre store to cater for online orders

A planning application for the development, which is essentially a new facility to specifically cater for online orders, was approved by Bradford Council.

The application was to create a facility with parking spaces for 29 “Dot Com vans” in the parking area of the Valley Road store.

Last year Tesco announced plans to roll out urban fulfilment centres at many of its larger stores – with 10 planned for a 2021 opening.

The move follows a huge rise in online shopping brought about by the lockdowns.

Planning officers said; “It is considered that, particularly in recent years, shopping habits have changed considerably, with less people visiting the shops in person and more people doing their shopping online.

“The location of the spaces to be lost, are the hardest to reach in the site, located well away from the main entrance and on the car park’s edge.

“The trend in online retail is one that does appear to be continuing, and the number of deliveries each van will make, it is assumed, will reduce the need for customers to visit the store in person, meaning that a lower number of spaces on the site is acceptable.”

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