Press Release

Leading UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has been appointed to provide a range of property advice to Ocado, the online grocery delivery service that partners with Waitrose.

The firm, through its London-based property team, will provide property, planning, construction and procurement advice to Ocado in relation to the expansion of its state-of-the-art distribution centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, as well as new acquisitions of 'spokes', or local distribution sites. The company most recently announced the acquisition of a 35-acre second distribution site in the West Midlands, for which it has applied for planning permission to build a 350,000 sq ft facility to cope with its expansion.

Founded by Tim Steiner and Jason Gissing, Ocado is the first in a new generation of supermarkets, placing emphasis on quality, accessibility and the true environmental impact of the grocery journey. The company floated earlier this year, partly to fund further infrastructure growth.

Mike Scott, a property partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn’s London office, is leading the relationship. He commented: “Ocado is a growing business that is devoted to doing things differently. Infrastructure is at the centre of that vision, so handling their property business is an exciting prospect. Committed to the environment, and to inspiring a new generation of supermarketing, Ocado is leading the way, and we’re pleased to be assisting them to realise their goals.”