Authors, politicians and senior figures from HarperCollins, including global CEO Brian Murray and News UK COO David Dinsmore, will be given tours of HarperCollins UK’s new distribution centre and offices in Robroyston today (Thursday 6th March).
Jeffrey Archer, Rob Biddulph, Adele Parks and Nigel Slater are among the authors visiting the site. To mark World Book Day, the company will donate 50 books to each of Glasgow’s 140 primary schools, in conjunction with charity partner Glasgow Life.
HarperCollins UK CEO Charlie Redmayne will then give a speech highlighting the company’s contribution – as well as the publishing sector’s £11bn contribution – to the UK economy. He will also call on the government to help publishers address the “crisis in children’s reading”.
The distribution centre is 550,000 square feet, and sits on a two million square feet site. It will hold over 56,000 titles in 220,000 locations, powered by KNAPP logistics automation and new machines from Jungheinrich. Over 110 million books will leave the site every year, with three million books expected to leave the site every week during the busiest period.
A £2.7m grant from Scottish Enterprise has enabled HarperCollins to design and install the robotic warehouse management system. The new site has been built with sustainability in mind, with 99% of the earth that was dug being reused on site. It also features high-efficiency building insulation and cladding, solar panels, all-site LED and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, as well as charging stations for over 30 electric vehicles.
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