IN Brief:
- Autodoc has opened its first UK warehouse in Greater Manchester.
- The 7,200m² hub holds 41,000 SKUs, with capacity to scale to 75,000 SKUs.
- Radial, now becoming part of Paxon, manages warehousing, fulfilment, and transport at the site.
Autodoc has opened its first UK warehouse near Manchester, creating a domestic fulfilment base for automotive spare parts and accessories as the online aftermarket retailer expands its local operating model.
The 7,200m² facility in Oldham holds 41,000 SKUs and has capacity to scale to 75,000 SKUs. It supports Autodoc’s wider online catalogue of more than 7.8m parts by positioning high-demand inventory inside the UK network, reducing the need to fulfil routine orders from continental Europe.
Radial, now becoming part of Paxon, manages warehousing, fulfilment, and transport at the site. The logistics operation is designed to process thousands of orders per day, with semi-automation and inventory planning supporting high-throughput fulfilment.
The site moved quickly into live operation, processing around 1,000 orders during its first 48 hours. Early demand shows the value of domestic inventory in a market where automotive parts availability, delivery speed, and cost remain under pressure.
Dmitri Zadorojnii, CEO of Autodoc, said the Manchester facility marked the company’s evolution from a global webshop to a local powerhouse. He said the site combines Autodoc’s scale with the speed and reliability of a domestic partner.
Sebastian Bleser, Senior Vice President Supply Chain at Autodoc, said the Manchester location provides direct motorway access across England, Scotland, and Wales. He said stocking 41,000 SKUs in the UK would make everyday orders faster and more reliable, while reducing the complexity of cross-border logistics.
Wayne Chapman, UK CEO of Paxon, said the warehouse had been planned around inventory management, fulfilment throughput, and transport requirements. He said the partnership showed how high-SKU businesses can scale quickly in a new country where speed and product availability are central to demand.
The UK automotive aftermarket gives the investment a strong operating base. The vehicle parc is large and ageing, while cost pressure has increased interest in repair, maintenance, and replacement rather than new vehicle purchase. Online parts ordering has also become more important as workshops, mobile mechanics, fleet operators, and consumers look for wider availability and faster fulfilment.
Cross-border e-commerce logistics is also becoming more localised. Direct international shipping can support wide assortment, but delivery speed, returns handling, customs friction, and service expectations increasingly favour domestic stock for high-frequency products. Autodoc’s Manchester warehouse narrows that gap by keeping fast-moving parts closer to the market while retaining the range advantage of a larger European network.
Paxon’s role follows other high-SKU fulfilment activity. Claes has centralised logistics with Paxon, using outsourced fulfilment capability to support product availability and distribution efficiency. Autodoc takes that model into the automotive aftermarket, where a delayed brake disc, sensor, filter, or EV-specific component can interrupt workshop schedules and keep vehicles unavailable.
Automotive spare parts logistics is not simply parcel retail. It forms a service layer for garages, maintenance operations, fleets, repair networks, and industrial users that rely on vehicle uptime. High SKU counts, variable demand, fitment complexity, and returns all make the category operationally demanding.
The Manchester facility gives Autodoc a stronger domestic base as aftermarket purchasing continues to move online. It also reflects a wider fulfilment pattern: large digital retailers are localising inventory in strategic markets, using data-led stock positioning and 3PL infrastructure to reduce delivery uncertainty without sacrificing catalogue breadth.
