A LEADING food recipe box company is set to begin delivery operations in Warrington.

Gousto, which delivers fresh ingredients and recipes straight to your door, has leased a 307,807 square foot distribution centre at Mountpark Warrington Omega II.

The company hopes to begin operations at the facility at the end of 2021, bringing more than 400 permanent new jobs.

Last week, the Guardian reported the anger felt by Westbrook residents who say that the warehouses under construction along Burtonwood Road will greatly affect their house prices.

Gousto has benefited from strong lockdown trading, with the online grocery market booming as many people opted to have food delivered rather than venturing out to shops.

Revenue for the first six months of 2020 surpassed the £83 million worth of sales reported for the whole of 2019, with revenue in the first quarter of 2020 showing 70 per cent year-on-year growth.

On the back of this, Gousto is expanding its distribution network by moving to Warrington as it aims to at least triple delivery capacity by 2022.

“The recent lockdown accelerated structural trends which were already firmly underway, opening up the recipe box market to a far larger audience,” said Timo Boldt, Gousto CEO and founder.

“Now, even as lockdown eases, we have maintained record sales, with new customers won over by our market leading choice and variety and the convenience of having fresh ingredients delivered to their door with no hassle or food waste.

“We are excited to open up this new energy-efficient facility at Mountpark Warrington Omega ll, enabling us to deliver even more Gousto boxes to households across the country, as we get closer to our mission of becoming the UK’s most-loved way to eat dinner.”

The unit has been let out by industrial and logistical property developer Mountpark, which will be working with Gousto fit out the unit to its specification.

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 Tom Kilmister, development director at Mountpark, added: “We are delighted to welcome Gousto and to be working with the team to adapt the facility to meet the company’s exact operational requirements.

“Our aim is to offer customers the best property opportunities on the market, and at Mountpark Warrington Omega II we are developing high quality units at one of north west’s premier logistics locations.”

The first phase of Mountpark Warrington Omega is let to Royal Mail and the Delivery Group, with other occupiers including Brakes, Hermes, Travis Perkins, ASDA, The Hut Group, Dominos and Amazon.