JLL has been appointed by Dija, the UK-based grocery delivery start-up, to acquire inner-city hubs and supplementary urban warehouses across the UK and Europe. This will support and enable plans by the 'dark grocer' to fulfull local deliveries within 10-30 minutes of their order.
As well as utilising JLL’s city logistics expertise, Dija will be using JLL’s supply chain team to help design and integrate the growing network of stores and warehouses as it grows rapidly, with the aim of establishing a network of around 2,000 locations across Europe in the next three years.
Ashley Smart, EMEA logistics business development director, JLL, said: 'This mandate is an excellent opportunity for us to assist what will be one of the fastest growing food tech companies in Europe a start-up in its growth.
'The deal underlines the increase in demand for last mile urban logistics space as a result of the accelerated shift towards e-commerce and changing consumer behaviours and will help utilise some real estate assets that have become obsolete in recent times.
'We look forward to working with Dija, and we’re confident that we can find some great locations which will give them the tools to carry out their ambitious delivery targets and wider growth plans.'
Alberto Menolascina, co-founder and CEO, Dija, said: 'This is a really exciting time for our business, and we’re pleased to have JLL on board to help us get to a place where we’re able to offer our customers grocery deliveries to their door in 10 minutes.
'Our aim is to provide this service day and night, which will require a robust real estate offering to allow us to service the right demographics in the shortest amount of time. We are committed to building a safe and sustainable business, and our partnership with JLL will enable us to do this.'
JLL will also be providing demographic data and mapping services to help Dija identify the strongest locations to open future hubs in cities.
