THE UK warehousing and despatch services of the biggest online home store in the US is to be managed from North Yorkshire following a £350,000 deal with BT.

The communication giant's Northallerton distribution centre is set to recruit five new full time staff following the deal with US firm Wayfair, with the number of new jobs set to double by the end of the year.

Steve Davies, Wayfair’s warehousing and incidence reduction manager, said: "Due to the ongoing success of both Wayfair and our sister company Joss and Main, we needed a logistics partner who could support our current operation and ambitious European growth plans.

"BT Supply Chain, with their skills and capabilities in various distribution models, proved to be the best choice for our operations.

"In just a short time, we have already experienced a significant upturn in many of our key metrics that enable us to provide the best possible customer experience.

"We look forward to working with BT going forward and believe this deal will be of great value to our UK supply chain.”

This latest boost to the 150 strong workforce reinforces the North Yorkshire depot’s position as BT’s second largest UK supply chain centre, which is already responsible for processing and distributing more than 20,000 customer orders per day.

BT staff will be handling everything from sofas and vases to the kitchen sink in addition to the usual broadband hubs, BT TV boxes and other electronics.

Nick Hale, managing director of BT Supply Chain, said: "This is more good news for Northallerton and for BT Supply Chain.

"Logistically, Northallerton has enabled us to provide the ideal solution to meet Wayfair’s requirements but the high calibre of our highly-trained workforce enabled us to assure Wayfair we could meet the peaks in demand that are part and parcel of their business.

"This deal will allow us to continue maintaining and growing our presence in Northallerton during the next few years."

In March last year, BT announced plans due to introduce a traineeship programme at the distribution centre and to take on more apprentices.

Tom Keeney, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "It’s fantastic news that BT Supply Chain continues to develop, grow and expand their operations in Northallerton.

"This contract with Wayfair is testament to the hard work of all the staff who have each contributed to the ongoing success and growth of the business."