Tesco Orkney

“The principle of off-site construction works very well for Tesco, particularly on constrained sites and in locations with such challenging logistics as Orkney.”

The Requirement

Tesco had a requirement for an interim store in Kirkwall – the capital of the Orkney Islands – which would be in operation for up to 20 weeks while the adjacent existing Tesco supermarket is demolished and replaced with a larger 25,000sqft scheme.The interim store would then be broken down to its modular components and relocated to another Tesco site for use as either a permanent or another interim supermarket.

The Solution

Yorkon was awarded the contract for the interim store - its most northerly building project.

The project involved delivering 26 purpose-built supermarket modules by road from the Yorkon production centre in York to Aberdeen, where they were transported by sea in three shipments to the cargo terminal in Kirkwall. A 500-tonne crane was then used to install the building modules on site in only three days, ready for the final stages of fitting out, stocking and commissioning of the store.

Working closely with main contractors Barr Construction, Yorkon was able to reduce the build time on site to just three weeks, minimising any disruption to Tesco customers.

A New Modular Supermarket Design Modules are shipped from Aberdeen to Kirkwall

The store, which has a retail sales area of 10,000sqft and back-of-house areas of 3,000sqft, is a new modular supermarket design that Yorkon has developed with Tesco. It has now been used in a number of locations, including Workington following the Cumbria floods where the store was open and trading after just 13 days on site.

The store design is almost three times the size of the Express convenience stores manufactured by Yorkon for Tesco, and has been engineered to minimise the number of internal columns for maximum clear spans. Facilities include an in-store bakery, frozen food and chiller sections, office, store room, staff facilities, plant room, cleaner’s area and bulk storage.

Delivering More than 170 Stores for Tesco

Yorkon has worked with Tesco for the past 10 years, delivering more than 170 projects, which include 150 Express convenience and petrol filling station stores, and is the UK’s market leader in off-site construction solutions for the retail sector.

Comments from the Client

Stephen McEwan, Tesco Store Manager:

Modules at the dock in Kirkwall “The principle of off-site construction works very well for Tesco, particularly on constrained sites and in locations with such challenging logistics as Orkney. The store has the look and feel of a permanent store, and we have had very positive feedback from staff and customers since it opened.”

“The modular solution has allowed us to reduce the cost of providing a temporary supermarket, because it will be relocated to another site when the new Orkney store has been completed. The project went very well and involved an impressive team effort from everyone involved.”