The new contract will see DHL manage B&Q's Swindon distribution centre, as well as its regional consolidation centres, while safeguarding the company's operations in Worksop and Radlett.
In June B&Q announced that it would pull activity from seven of its existing distribution centres, including Coventry, Chepstow, Swindon and Middleton - all of which were run by third party supplier partners, including DHL and Wincanton. The move affected 1,031 employees.

Following the announcement, B&Q invested £77.4m in a new 796,649sq ft distribution centre in Swindon, which is set to open next July. It is hoped that all 125 employees from B&Q's current Swindon site would transfer across to the new operation. A further 250 jobs were expected to be created at B&Q's distribution centre in Worksop.

The new two-year contract, set to commence in February 2012, will see DHL take responsibility for managing the majority of B&Q's warehousing and distribution. The peak volume will come through Swindon at more than 1m cases a week. DHL will also be responsible for the remaining B&Q consolidation centres throughout the UK, including Preston Brook.

B&Q director of value chain logisitics Rick Jones, Director said: "We announced our plans to review our distribution strategy back in June leading to the establishment of a new regional distribution centre in Swindon, enabling us to improve our service to stores and in turn our customers. The Swindon DC will create 550 jobs for the local area and represents an investment of £77.4 million. We are delighted that DHL will be our partner for our new development in Swindon which is due to commence operating from the summer."