QVC set to deliver a jobs bonanza for Knowsley

Jan 16 2008 By Barry Turnbull, Liverpool Daily Post

KNOWSLEY could enjoy a jobs bonanza thanks to shopping channel QVC.

The business already plans to create an extra 700 posts over the next few years at its Kirkby distribution centre and is now looking at the possibility of relocating its head office function from London.

There are currently 500 staff at the company’s broadcasting and administration base in Battersea.

QVC instructed property agents Drivers Jonas to examine locations for a new-build head office in Knowsley and Salford to see how prices compare with sites within the M25. The Salford option would be at Media City, soon to be home to part of the BBC. The company’s lease at Battersea runs out in 2012. A spokesperson said: "We are looking at locations in London but also in the North West for cost comparison purposes. Staff have been kept fully informed and no decision is imminent."

The business has gone from strength-to-strength after launching in Knowsley a decade ago where it currently employs 1,800.

In April it is due to open a new distribution warehouse with extra call centre and office space in a £20m investement programme.

It is the fifth expansion since launch with no sign of operations slowing down. It is estimated an additional 700 jobs will be generated over the next few years.

This comes just 11 years after QVC first chose Knowsley for its Operations Centre. Since 1996 QVC’s sales have quadrupled. In that year, QVC was available to just over 5m homes, now more than 17m households – seven out of ten of Britain’s homes – can receive the channel.

In 1996, 3.6m parcels were shipped, by 2007 this figure had grown to over 12m.

The new high-bay warehouse is the fifth phase of QVC’s expansion in Knowsley and will double the amount of storage space available.

The new call centre and office space will allow QVC to meet the growth in demand, as sales have increased by 33% over the last two years.

The high-bay warehouse will be 37 metres high, fully automated and hold 30,000 pallets, which would stretch from Knowsley to Chester City Centre if placed end- to-end.

A 30,000 sq ft building for the call centre/office space will be over two floors and will provide a new canteen facility as well as additional call centre seats and office space.

The customer operations centre occupies a 38 acre site at Knowsley Industrial Park North. The facilities currently comprise a 54,000 sq ft call centre and 580,000 sq ft distribution warehouse, the latter being the equivalent of eight football pitches.