Banks's owner Carlsberg Britvic's £4m depot move plan will leave another large Wolverhampton city site empty

The drinks company announced yesterday (Wednesday, July 16) that it would become the first occupier of the new £2 billion WMI national logistics hub at Four Ashes.

It plans to invest £4 million in building a new depot at the site, at Junction 12 of the M6 north of Wolverhampton, which will replace the existing Carlsberg Britvic depot in Grimstone Street, in Wolverhampton city centre, next to the former Springfield Brewery site which is now owned by the University of Wolverhampton.

Carlsberg Britvic will occupy a 222,000 square foot new unit at the site - located just under 10 miles from its existing Grimstone Street depot.

Operations and deliveries from the current depot will continue as normal while the new site is under construction, Carlsberg Britvic bosses said, with the new depot at WMI expected to open in the final quarter of 2026.

Logistics operations will transfer fully to the new purpose-built state-of-the-art facility as part of a managed transition, the company has said, which will leave the Grimstone Street site's future uncertain.

It was announced in October 2024 that Wolverhampton's Banks's Brewery, owned by Carlsberg Britvic, is to close this autumn with the loss of nearly 100 jobs.

Bosses at the drinks conglomerate, however, have remained tight-lipped about a closure date.

Brewing will be concentrated at Carlsberg Britvic's breweries in Northampton and Burton, the company said, blaming a decision by Mahou San Miguel not to renew its long-term exclusive licence partnership from 2025 and the decline of cask ale volumes over several years for the need to restructure the business.

Carlsberg Britvic, which was formed in 2024 through the merger of Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company and Britvic plc in the UK, has pledged to spend more than £6m upgrading its Burton Brewery as part of the company restructuring plans.

CEO Paul Davies said the £4m spend on a new depot at the new WMI national logistics hub, which is being developed by global real estate investor, developer and manager Oxford Properties and Logistics Capital Partners (LCP), "will be a massive investment in the region" and will future-proof the firm's logistics infrastructure.

No date has yet been given for the closure of the Grimstone Street depot but it's expected that it will be in late 2026 when the new facility is complete.

As well as workers based at and operating out of the existing depot, a team dealing with logistics and administration based at Marston's House in Brewery Road, Wolverhampton, will move over to the new depot at WMI.

The loss of the brewery and associated sites and job roles is sad news for Wolverhampton where Banks's Brewery has been brewing beer since 1875.

Attracting Carlsberg Britvic to the new WMI development, however, has been hailed a "significant milestone" for the project with Robin Everall, head of development at Oxford Properties, saying: “The bringing together of the UK’s largest multi-beverage supplier and one of the most important logistics developments in the country will deliver a significant boost to the regional and national economy."