The U.K.’s biggest music and home entertainment distribution warehouse will open in Bicester at the end of this month.
The 25k square meter facility, built by Utopia Distribution Services and DP World, will be able to handle 100k to 250k units per day of physical music and video sales, driven by 80+ “pick robots.” It has been created to meet ongoing demand: 23 out of 26 U.K. #1 albums released so far in 2023 have topped the chart on majority physical sales.
The warehouse will distribute 70% of the U.K.’s physical music for clients including Universal, Sony and [PIAS], as well as 35% of the U.K.’s physical video market.
UDS—owned by Swiss startup Utopia Music—will relocate from Aylesbury, which it inherited when it acquired physical music distributor Cinram in 2022. Utopia’s other physical distributor, Proper Music Group, will continue to operate from its Dartford warehouse. The new Bicester site is fitted operated by global end-to-end supply-chain provider, DP World.
“This huge new warehouse and the investment it represents makes a welcome commitment to British music’s infrastructure and channels of distribution that will help to sustain the growth in demand for music on physical format for the foreseeable future and beyond,” BPI Chief Strategy Officer Sophie Jones said.
News of the opening follows a string of concerning stories in the press about the future of Utopia. In July, it appointed liquidators for its U.K.-based R&D division after divesting three companies it recently acquired.
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