Yorkon News Archives

17/10/2001 – Yorkon to build 'off the shelf' Tesco Express stores in 12 months

The UK's biggest supermarket retailer, Tesco, has formed a partnership with modular building specialists and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, to build ‘Express' convenience stores nationwide over the next 12 months. The orders will be worth in the region of £10m to Yorkon.

Yorkon currently has instructions for 21 stores located in residential and suburban areas, which are due for completion in the next six months. The programme is part of a three-year plan announced by Tesco Express to create up to 150 new stores on Esso petrol forecourts, which will bring convenience shopping and Tesco quality and value to many more localities.

The stores will be manufactured at Yorkon's 60-acre production centre in York, using the highly innovative modular building method, which combines speed, quality, flexibility, cost control and safety on site.

Each convenience store will be delivered to site by road as either 7 or 8 12m long steel-framed modules, which will be craned onto pre-prepared foundations in just one day. Checkouts, cigarette gantries, freezers, chillers, toilets and tiled floors will all be preinstalled in York to ensure faster completion on site and improved quality.

“Our aim is to deliver stores which meet the changing needs of our customers and to provide a pleasant working environment for our staff”, said Guy Digby, Property Services Manager for Tesco Express. “We have explored the benefits of modular construction, which offers guaranteed quality, is significantly quicker and, with volume, is more cost-effective.”

He added, “The manufacture of identical stores across the UK also allows us to increase operational efficiencies enabling our staff to focus on serving customers.”

Keith Blanshard, Director and General Manager of Yorkon said, “Our partnership with Tesco is a major milestone for Yorkon and further evidence of the increasing demand for modular construction in every sector. More organisations than ever before are recognising the benefits to be gained from modular – faster return on investment, guaranteed quality and predictable costs.”

“The surge in interest follows publication of the Government's Egan report ‘Rethinking Construction', which recommended greater use of prefabrication across the building industry.”

The first Tesco Express stores to be built by Yorkon will be located in Olton near Birmingham and South Oxhey in Hertfordshire.

Following completion of an extensive product development process, Yorkon has introduced a specially designed building module for Tesco Express. It will be used to create standardised convenience stores providing 2000sqft or 2500sqft of retail space. Customers will benefit from an in-store bakery, ATM machine, air conditioning and the availability of fresh, frozen and chilled products.