The UK’s favourite parcel delivery company DPD* has confirmed that building work on its new £100m parcel hub at Hinckley Commercial Park, Leicestershire has been completed ahead of schedule.
The giant new hub – the largest of its kind in Europe – will increase DPD’s parcel capacity by over 65%. The investment is also set to create 1,000 permanent new jobs in 2015.
Global integrated property group, Goodman, owns and manages Hinckley Commercial Park, which is one of the Midlands’ premier logistics developments. Goodman developed this new parcel hub for DPD on a pre-sale basis.
Work began on the site – close to J1 of the M69 – in July 2013, and the facility is set to be fully operational by September 2015. The build phase involved 250,000 tonnes of earth moved to prepare the site, 4,500 tonnes of steelwork and 75,000 tonnes of concrete.
The building itself is 470 metres long and 40 metres wide with 264 loading dock doors, while the site in total covers 32 acres. The building also includes 6,790 sq m of mezzanine split over two levels with 624 sq m of office space.
Work will now continue to fit-out the interior, with conveyor specialists Beumer already on-site installing the automated sortation system that will run the length of the building.
Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO, commented; “This is a very significant day for us. The building looks absolutely stunning and for it to be completed ahead of schedule is a credit to everyone involved. Hinckley gives us significant scope to expand our capacity and allows us to stay one step ahead of the growth in the online parcel market and our competitors.
“Our current level of investment is unprecedented in the industry and Hinckley is just part of the expansion that has taken place in recent times. We’ve also opened 18 new depots around the country in the last two years, nine of them being purpose-built developments. As a result, we have been creating around 1,000 new jobs a year and 2015 will see us continue with that level of growth.”
Throughout the project, DPD has worked closely with Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council and with integrated, global property group Goodman, who have been responsible for developing the site.
Charles Crossland, Managing Director of Goodman UK Logistics, said: “We are proud to announce the completion of this significant pre-sale at Hinckley Commercial Park. It is one of our most important logistics developments to date in terms of its scale, and demonstrates Goodman’s ability to deliver bespoke, complex customer requirements within a set time frame.
“The activity at Hinckley Commercial Park and the DPD build in particular are a response to the upturn in the UK economy and the lack of supply of quality commercial property in Leicestershire. DPD’s distribution hub will play a major role in promoting the region as a prime logistics location and attracting further investment.”
Recruitment for the Hinckley hub will begin in earnest in the New Year with opportunities for; deck hands, parcel loaders, management positions, vehicle maintenance, HGV mechanics, security, admin and IT.
DPD’s growth is based on its unique Predict and Follow My Parcel services which give customers advanced notification of a one hour delivery slot, and allow them to track their driver on a map, or send real-time instructions if they can’t be home for a delivery.
DPD was recently voted the top delivery company in the UK by Which? members for the second year running.
