Despite opening only three years ago, DP World London Gateway, a fully integrated logistics facility, comprises the UK’s third largest container terminal, a rail head and land for the largest logistics park in Europe. It is owned and operated by Dubai-based port operator and logistics company DP World."It is already the largest chilled container port in the UK with 85% of all chilled containers from the Southern Hemisphere coming here," explains Gavin Knight Managing Director of Halo. "It is already used by all the major shipping companies. There are three berths currently operational, but in the future there are plans for six. Each of these berths can accommodate the huge containers ships already crossing the oceans, and will be able to accommodate the even bigger ships of the future."
Other UK ports have limitations such as not having the capacity for the big vessels and no room to grow or expand, some have trouble due to tidal waters and are forced to close when the weather gets very bad.
Situated right beside the port is DP World London Gateway Logistics park, this is where Halo will be situated. The Logistics Park has planning permission for 10 million sq ft of buildings. At the moment half a million sq ft worth is developed, and there are plans for another half million. Included in this is the Halo project, which will operate from a 110,000 sq ft, multi temperature centre, with frozen and chilled rooms, a processing facility and ripening rooms.
Building for the Halo project will start in January 2018 and should be up and running by the end of the summer.
The Halo project, according to Gavin, will take a huge cost out of the supply chain, seriously reducing road miles and the carbon footprint.
"Next year London Gateway will be the key UK port for Southern Hemisphere product, DP World London Gateway will handle thousands of chilled containers from Southern Hemisphere, by using the services in the port and logistics centre 20+ million miles of road travel could be saved," said Gavin. "It would save the supply chain £50+ million pounds just on inland transport, by bringing the produce straight here the miles are reduced considerably. We will do what has to be done eg. repacking, processing, ripening, then we will then redistribute to the final client anywhere in the UK."
The logistics park is just 8 miles from the M25, and the A13, which connects the port to the M25 is congestion free. This due to investment in the road by the owners of the port.
Other companies have also been quick to see the benefit of investing here, £110 million has been invested by UPS, the company's biggest ever investment outside the US and all the major shipping lines are already going into London Gateway.
For more information:
Gavin Knight
Halo
Tel: +44 7825 862 465
gavinknight@SHPratt.com