How robots made Northampton warehouse three times more efficient

Staff at Decathlon's Northampton warehouse used to walk more than six miles (10km) a day, picking items to send to stores or customers. Now a fleet of 100 robots zips around, climbing shelves more than 12m (39ft) high and delivering stock. The sports retailer says the set-up is more than three times as efficient – but that no-one lost their job due to the robots arriving. Unions representing warehouse workers are more sceptical, with one representative saying the "ultimate aim of automation" was "to replace human workers". Standing at her "picking station" waiting for a robot to arrive, Diana Kovacs says "you can't help but grow fond of them over time". On the rare occasions the system breaks down, Kovacs, 26, has "a little laugh about it – as if it's in a mood". Kovacs has worked for Decathlon for about three years, arriving just before the warehouse was largely automated in 2023. Now, about 75% of items going through the facility are handled by robots. A stream of them brings Kovacs boxes of stock – maybe trainers, socks or sports equipment – and a screen tells her how many to put into each of four other boxes, heading to some of the company's 40 shops. When she has handed out th