Waitrose has signed a lease for a 90,000 sq ft distribution centre in Coulsdon, South London.

It has entered an agreement with developer Evander Properties and will invest £30 million into the new location.

The news comes days after Sainsbury's announced it is opening a 185,000 sq ft facility in Bromley-by-Bow. Like Sainsbury's, Waitrose is building an online fulfillment centre - the premises will only distribute online orders.

For both companies, this is the first forray into sites fully dedicated to online-only orders, rather than keeping these in-store or managed as part of regular distribution and supply chains.

More than 600 jobs will be created at the Ullswater Industrial Estate.

Evander Properties will start construction in January next year, with an expectation to be ready by the end of 2014. The business previously built a 420,000 sq ft regional distribution centre in Chorley, Lancashire for Waitrose in 2012.

The British Airways Pension Fund is backing Evander Properties in the project and will own the finished development.