Start with the operation, not the rack
The single biggest mistake we see across London distribution centres is picking a racking product first and making the operation fit around it. Good storage design starts with the pallet, the MHE, the shift pattern, and the velocity curve of your SKUs — the rack is the last decision, not the first.
Know your pallet first
Before any supplier quotes you, document the real profile of every pallet you store: footprint, overhang, top weight, bottom weight, side weight, gross weight with any over-wrap, and the failure modes you have seen on site. UK grocery, pharma and industrial clients all store different realities even if the paperwork says EUR.
Then the MHE
Aisle width is the next immovable constraint. VNA gives you density but ties you to a single piece of kit for life; a reach-truck aisle is slower but forgiving. Model the forklift cycle time against throughput — if peak volume is up ten percent in two years, can the chosen aisle strategy absorb it without another refit?
Design the structure, not the brochure
Engineered racking is a structural system. Every supplier should issue FEM 10.2.02 / EN 15512 calculations for your load case, signed off by a SEMA-approved engineer. If a quote does not include a drawing pack, a basis-of-design memo and a written inspection regime, it is a product — not a solution.
Plan the inspection regime before day one
SEMA annual inspection is a legal expectation under PUWER and HSG76, not a nice-to-have. Book the first inspection six months after go-live, not twelve — damage in London DCs creeps fastest in the first year because the team are still learning the envelope.
Common London-specific traps
- Low eaves. Inner-London sheds rarely give you full 11 m clear height. Plan for it.
- Mezzanine floor loading. Older London warehouses often have 4.5–5.0 kN/m² ground slabs. Verify early.
- Fire compartmentation. Old industrial estates have been subdivided by successive tenants. Sprinkler and fire-line changes follow every rack change.
- Insurance review. Every remedial / damaged-rack programme must be documented to keep cover valid.
The Kentron approach
We start with a half-day site survey, an SKU file review and an SEMA-approved damage inspection — all free. The written scope that follows is precisely the document you hand your finance director to approve the programme. If you would like us to run it for your London DC, get in touch.
Turn this insight into a Kentron project.
Share your scope and a member of our engineering team will be in touch within one working day.