Inside Marks and Spencer's mega e-commerce HQ which is the size of 11 football pitches (and with enough space to store 2.3bn Percy Pig sweets) The retailer opened its giant 900,000 sq ft distribution centre in Castle Donington, Leicestershire this week The site will handle all of M&S's online orders and deliveries processing up to a million items a day It is fully automated and the floor to ceiling shelving units stand at a staggering 25 ft tall It may be big enough to store a dozen jumbo jets or more than 3,500 double decker buses, but it's more likely to store billions of Percy Pig sweets. For this is not just any giant warehouse - it's Marks & Spencer's new automated storage hub that the company hopes to streamline its online ordering service. The retailer opened its new 900,000 sq ft distribution centre yesterday in Castle Donington, Leicestershire, to handle all of the company's online orders and store deliveries. Giant storage space: Marks & Spencer opened its new 900,000 sq ft distribution centre in Leicestershire yesterday Vast: The shelving units, which are massive at 25ft tall, are capable of holding around 16million items of clothing and food Hub: The centre replaces more than 100 smaller distribution centres around the UK and will handle process around a million items a day Sweet success: The centre is capable of holding up to 2.3billion of M&S's Percy Pig sweets Eventually the centre's neck-achingly high floor to ceiling storage system will be packed with around 16million items of clothing and food. Fully automated 'robots' will collect goods from the vast shelving stack, which stands at 25 metres high, as it is ordered. The first customer orders were shipped out from the warehouse last week and it is hoped that the centre will process up to a million items every day. Around 1,200 people will be employed at the site. The centre, the size of 11 Wembley Stadium-sized football pitches, is one of the largest of its kind in the UK. It was opened as part of a seven year project to create a 'fast, agile and flexible supply chain' according to M&S. Marc Bolland, Chief Executive at M&S, said: 'Castle Donington is one of the most modern, fully automated distribution centres in the UK. As we are recruiting a significant proportion of employees through our Marks & Start Logistics scheme for people with disabilities, this investment in the UK is a unique combination of state-of-the-art technology and a great social working environment. The building features Europe's largest solar wall - a sun-facing wall that absorbs solar energy and releases it to help heat the building. It is carbon neutral and has been part built using concrete from a former power station. M&S had previously used more than 100 separate smaller centres to handle orders. A new M&S website will be launched next year in a further bid to boost online sales. Items for sale: Some of the shelves are already packed full of M&S stock and the first items were processed for delivery last week Creating jobs: The new distribution centre will employ around 1,200 people during peak periods State-of-the-art: The centre uses a high tech automation system with 'robots' fetching items from its vast storage shelves when they are ordered by customers Alan Stewart, Chief Finance Officer at M&S, said: 'We are transforming our supply chain operations to make them fit for the future of M&S as a leading international, multi-channel retailer. 'Our new supply network, alongside new systems and a best-in-class web platform will create a more efficient M&S able to deliver our products to customers in the right place at the right time, whether they're at home or on the high street. 'We're extremely proud of Castle Donington, it's amongst the best of its kind in the world and our focus is now on delivering the rest of our modernisation programme.' Huge: The centre, the size of 11 Wembley Stadium-sized football pitches, is one of the largest of its kind in the UK