Kerry Logistics has been appointed by Marks & Spencer (M&S) as its logistics partner in Greater China. The contract incorporates logistics services across the supply chain for M&S, from suppliers' pick-up through to direct delivery to retail stores across the region.

Under the new contract, Kerry Logistics manages and operates both M&S's National Distribution Center (NDC) in Mainland China as well as its Regional Distribution Center in Hong Kong (HKRDC). Under the direction of the M&S regional sourcing hub, Kerry Logistics manages M&S's inbound and outbound supply chains and a wide range of value-added services including packing and unpacking, re-labeling and steaming.

In order for Kerry Logistics to align with M&S's environmentaland ethical policy, called Plan A, the HKRDC is located within Kerry Logistics' Product Customization and Consolidation Center (PC3) in Tai Po, Hong Kong. With the aim to be LEED (Gold) and HK-BEAM (Gold) compliant, this purpose-built facility has incorporated green technology into the design and construction of the building.

With a total area of 277,000 sq.ft (25,700 sq.m), PC3 is equipped with a Garment-On-Hanger (GOH) Center -- the largest facility of its kind in Hong Kong in terms of scale and capacity.' The PC3 center supports the daily replenishment of all M&S retail stores in Hong Kong, covering hanging and boxed garments as well as accessories, footwear and home products, whilst food merchandise is serviced from Kerry Logistics' cold store facility located in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

'"One of the factors in awarding this contract was that Kerry Logistics specializes in both fashion retail and cold chain logistics, meeting our different needs on clothing and food merchandise under one roof," said Simeon Piasecki, Regional Managing Director - Asia, of M&S (Asia Pacific).