Progress with plans for the new Southampton Costco store
17 February 2010
Costco Wholesale (Costco) is delighted that Southampton City Council Planning and Rights of Way Panel has supported plans for its first warehouse club on the South Coast, subject to completion of a section 106 legal agreement and referral to the Secretary of State.
Costco has been looking at developing in Southampton for a considerable period of time. Southampton is a key target area for Costco due to the density of businesses within both the city and the wider catchment and the distinct lack of mainstream cash and carry operators in this area.
The development of a Costco Warehouse on part of the British American Tobacco site (BAT) will provide a number of direct employment benefits and wider economic benefits to the surrounding area. This site was historically allocated to help protect and enable the expansion of British American Tobacco or BAT, a major employer in the area. However, BAT has moved their manufacturing operation and no longer requires this part of the site and therefore has sought to sell this element. We have worked closely with BAT to ensure both uses can operate successfully together.
The Costco warehouse when built will offer in the region of 160 jobs rising to 250 jobs within 3-5 years once the building has matured. The majority of these jobs will be filled by locally recruited staff.
The warehouse provides a wide variety of well paid employment opportunities ranging from unskilled jobs which provide a point of entry for those with little or no qualifications through to craft and operative roles where specialist training is provided.
In Southampton, Costco is keen to work with the local authority, on recruitment and training initiatives and we have held discussions with the Council and Job Centre Plus to discuss our commitment to providing an employment and skills management plan. This plan will be committed to as part of the legal agreement and will be focused not only on the warehouse employees but also opportunities during the construction phase
There are also significant indirect economic benefits that Costco can deliver to the wider economy in Southampton.
If small or medium sized businesses join Costco they stand to make considerable cost savings on products they buy allowing them to remain competitive. Cheaper prices have been identified as the primary benefit for trade members along with the ability to buy a wide range of goods under one roof in bulk quantities.
The substantial benefits that Costco can provide to small businesses have had very strong support from the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, whose members are very keen to see Costco come to this area and the associated price benefits we can offer.
Costco Wholesale are looking forward to opening a warehouse in Southampton and believe that it can play an active part in the ongoing economic prosperity of the region.
For more information:
Contact:costcoinfo@rpsgroup.com
