Small businesses drive £10 million service-centre expansion for DHL Express UK

Expanding international trade from UK small businesses is driving double-digit growth in DHLExpress UK’s volumes, despite the overall sluggish state of the domestic economy, leading the

DHL Express told CEP-Research that it had experienced double-digit growth over the past year ininternational shipments for both its day-definite and time-definite products, “across the board forall trade lanes”, adding: “With a sluggish domestic economy and weak exchange rate, smallbusinesses in the UK are seeing an increase in trade with international markets. DHL Express ishelping to facilitate these small businesses’ growth internationally.”

The £10 million expansion programme includes the construction of 10 new service centres during2011 – four of which have already opened, with a further six at differing stages of planning – inaddition to other locations where it is reconfiguring or expanding the current facilities.

The investment programme is expected to be completed by the end of 2011, “with furtherinvestment over and above then planned for 2012”, the company told CEP-Research.  

New service centres have already opened in Stockton, Edinburgh, Lincoln and Glasgow in the lastfew months, with further sites set to open later this year in Maidstone, Leeds, and Newport.

In the case of three of the locations, Stockton, Leeds and Maidstone, the new facilities willhave three times the capacity of the facilities they replace. The Stockton facility opened in May,with Leeds due to open this month and Maidstone in August.

Details of a new facility in Carlisle have recently been confirmed, although two others arestill subject to final confirmation and approval and cannot be named them at this stage, DHL toldCEP-Research.

Phil Couchman, CEO of DHL Express UK and Ireland, said the network expansion was the result ofsignificant business growth in international shipments.

“We plan on continuing our investment to accommodate future growth requirements, and maintainand grow our high standards of operational efficiency.”