NewCold’s Automated Cold Storage Facility Sets Benchmark in the UK

It doesn’t look like a food warehouse. More like something you'd see in a science fiction movie — all steel, height, and silence. But inside that vast structure on the edge of Corby, Northamptonshire, lies one of the most advanced cold chain facilities in Europe. Built by NewCold, it’s not just big — it’s fast, smart, and cold enough to keep an entire nation's worth of frozen meals, fries, and fish fingers perfectly preserved.

No Forklifts, No Hustle — Just Precision

There’s no sound of workers shouting. No forklifts beeping their way through tight corridors. Inside, it’s still — eerily so. That’s because the whole system runs on automated cranes that zip through towering aisles in deep freeze, stacking and retrieving pallets in silence. Each move is calculated, logged, and executed by software. Human error? It doesn’t get a chance.

The warehouse can store over 180,000 pallets, all kept at a constant –23°C. Whether it's frozen vegetables headed to retailers or boxes of ready-made meals from local producers, every item is scanned, sorted, and rotated automatically. Nothing sits too long, and nothing gets missed. That’s essential in a business where product freshness and safety can’t be left to guesswork.

Smarter Cold Means Greener Cold

You’d think a building this size would guzzle energy. Actually, it’s the opposite. By stacking vertically and sealing the system from human traffic, the Corby site uses far less energy than traditional stores. There’s no need to heat break rooms inside the cold zone or waste power lighting walkways. The robots don’t care if it’s dark. They just work.

Compared to older cold stores, NewCold says they’ve cut energy use per pallet by up to 50%. That matters — not just for cost, but because frozen food producers are under pressure to shrink their carbon footprint. If you make frozen fries or pizzas and you're shipping them across the UK, your supply chain choices now come under scrutiny. And this warehouse helps tick more than a few ESG boxes.

Right in the Middle of Everything

The location isn’t a coincidence. Corby sits in the UK’s logistics golden triangle, with easy links to London, Birmingham, and the main east coast ports. That means faster, more predictable delivery routes — something that’s been a real headache for exporters post-Brexit.

If you’re shipping frozen goods, speed is everything. Long detours or delayed handoffs can mean thawed products and lost revenue. With Corby as a hub, processors and packers can move quickly and reliably — whether they’re sending frozen berries to a supermarket or potato wedges to a foodservice client.

What About the People?

Here’s the twist: it’s not that there are no people involved — it’s that they’re doing different jobs. No one’s dragging pallets through minus twenty anymore. Instead, staff work in climate-controlled rooms, monitoring systems, tweaking software, running diagnostics. This isn’t just automation for efficiency; it’s automation that changes the kind of job offered.

That’s a big deal. Cold chain jobs have always been hard to fill. Not many people dream of spending their shift in a freezer suit. But tech roles? Logistics coordinators? Data monitors? That’s a much easier sell, especially to younger workers.

More Than a Warehouse

NewCold isn’t just building boxes to hold frozen food. They’re rethinking how the cold chain functions. From energy use to labor, from location to logistics, everything at Corby is engineered to solve modern problems. And in a food industry that’s only growing more complex — more SKUs, more partners, more demand for transparency — that kind of forward-thinking is no longer optional.

Whether you’re packaging frozen sweetcorn or managing export routes for chilled desserts, the way your warehouse partner operates could affect everything from shelf life to margins. Corby’s message is simple: the future of frozen isn’t just colder. It’s smarter.