Company Shop Group is opening a new frozen redistribution centre in South Yorkshire as part of a multi-million-pound investment to increase its surplus handling capacity.

The 73,007 sq ft site in Darton is set to open this summer and become fully operational by October.

The UK surplus redistributor said the new facility would significantly increase its ability to process and redistribute frozen products across the country, helping food and drink businesses prevent more surplus stock from becoming waste.

The investment follows Company Shop Group reaching the milestone of redistributing one billion surplus items since the business began.

It also marks one of the group’s biggest investments since it moved into its existing headquarters in Tankersley, which will continue to handle ambient and chilled products.

Company Shop Group said it had doubled the amount of frozen surplus it handles over the past five years, with the new site designed to bring its frozen operations fully in-house.

The Darton facility, located a few miles from the Tankersley site, will process and redistribute millions of frozen food items through the group’s Company Shop surplus supermarkets and its social enterprise Community Shop.

The business said the move would create a more efficient operating model, increase scale, and support further investment in product interventions that allow surplus goods to be redistributed safely and compliantly.

At least five new roles will be created, alongside existing colleagues moving to the new site.

Company Shop Group managing director Chris Burns said: “Over the last five years we have doubled the amount of frozen surplus that we handle and this new redistribution centre is a major investment for the future, bringing significantly increased operational capacity.

“By bringing our frozen operations in-house, we will be better positioned to support our industry partners, creating a more efficient system and a platform for continued investment in our product interventions.

“All of which will help stop even more perfectly good products from going to waste.”

Company Shop Group operations director Martin Upton added: “The new frozen redistribution centre will allow us to process far more pallets per day reinforcing our unique ability to redistribute frozen surplus at a very large scale.

“This brings significant benefits, including the opportunity to introduce new product interventions that will enable us to provide even more support to our partners and redistribute more stock.”

The site is currently being fully refitted before freezers are brought down to temperature and final testing takes place ahead of opening.