New fashion firm depot to provide work for hundreds

The online retailer, which emulates the designer looks of celebrities such as Kate Moss and Sienna Miller, said the Barnsley site will be one of the three biggest retail warehouses in the UK.

ASOS chief executive Nick Robertson said when the site opens in May next year it will have 360 permanent staff and up to 1,000 employees during busy periods when it takes on temporary workers.

"We will have between 500 and 1,000 staff in place from Day One," he said. "We've done our research, Barnsley has an abundance of available workforce who have the skills we need.

"The availability of big sheds like this is fairly limited. This site has the ability to turn us into a 1bn business within the next five years."

ASOS has thrived during the recession at a time when many high street retailers have gone bust.

It focuses on high fashion items aimed at 18 to 34-year- olds that replicate the designer clothes worn by singers, models and actresses, but at a fraction of the price.

It has managed to keep costs to a minimum because it has no stores and the ASOS Magazine is now the second biggest fashion magazine in the country, behind Glamour, with a circulation of 450,000.

The 530,000 sq ft warehouse, at Park Spring Road in Barnsley, will be three times bigger than ASOS's current warehouse

in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, which will be closed down.

The Barnsley centre, which is owned by distribution group proLogis, has good links to the A1 and M62, putting 15 million potential customers within two hours' drive time.

The hourly rate for employees working in storage and distribution in South Yorkshire is estimated to be 16 per cent lower than the national average.

But Mr Robertson said money was not the key factor, adding that Barnsley's biggest attractions were the size of the warehouse, the quality of the local workforce and its excellent transport links.

ASOS has more than 36,000 clothing, accessory and beauty lines and introduces around 1,300 new products every week. It has 3.7 million registered users.