DHL Express UK is investing in new facilities at Manchester’s Airport City and in Park Royal,London, to keep up with the rising demand for British exports and import express services.
In Manchester, DHL has signed a pre-let agreement with Manchester Airports Group (MAG) for theconstruction of a 3,466 sqm hub next to Manchester Airport’s existing cargo centre, with a directmotorway access. As part of the Enterprise Zone for Greater Manchester designated by the UKgovernment, the £100m logistics hub will create 1,800 jobs by expanding Manchester Airport’ssuccessful freight terminal to improve international trade, cut transit times and increaseefficiency.
With an overall investment of £800 million and a construction period of 10-15 years, AirportCity Manchester is expected to turn Manchester Airport from a regional transport hub into aninternational destination, competing with successful airport cities across Europe includingAmsterdam, Frankfurt and Barcelona. Upon completion, the new DHL facility will offer internationalservices and the main DHL Service Point portfolio for drop-off and collection of goods for deliveryoverseas benefitting local businesses and residents.
Phil Couchman, CEO of DHL Express, UK and Ireland, commented: “Our investment in this state ofthe art facility is reflective of the demand for British-made goods overseas. As the region’seconomy goes from strength to strength, this new facility also marks a milestone in the growth ofDHL. This operation will serve to enhance DHL’s competitive logistical performance due to itsstrategic location, state of the art features and best in class handling processes.”
“What’s more, the location of the hub within the Enterprise Zone will support future exportopportunities for small businesses in the region, allowing British businesses to get their productto international markets with even greater speed and reliability,” he added.
Separately, DHL Express UK has invested in a £5 million service centre in Park Royal due toanticipated growth in volumes in the London area over the next ten years as demand from overseasfor British-made goods is rising.
Couchman said: “This strategic investment in the London is reflective of the strength of ourgrowing logistics network in the UK. London, as the capital and a hotspot of exporting activity,has seen a significant increase in shipments over the last few years. International trade is agolden opportunity for many businesses in the UK and through this service centre we can helpfacilitate success for them.”
The new centre offers international services as well as drop off and collection points of goodsfor delivery overseas and is environmentally efficient, with energy-efficient lighting and solarbacked window blinds to reduce office cooling during summer months. It also features the latestoperational equipment such as full direct load and automated sort technology, which will increaseparcel handling capability.
According to the latest quarterly DHL/BCC (British Chamber of Commerce) Trade Confidence Indexreport, export orders from London firms are up by 8% on the same quarter last year, compared to anational increase of 4%. Export orders increased for nearly half of service sector firms (47%) andfor 38% of manufacturing firms, with 46% of exporters confirming export sales increases in Q3 2013,compared to 8% of the exporters who experienced an order decrease.
In terms of business confidence, 69% of the exporters surveyed expect their turnover to furtherimprove this quarter which is also the highest number since 2007. Business confidence isparticularly strong among exporting manufacturers, with 66% believing that their turnover is likelyto improve, compared with 61% last quarter. More than half of exporters (55%) believe that theirprofitability will increase this year.
In terms of job creation, nearly a third (34%) of the exporting firms surveyed counted onincreasing the number of staff over the following three months. In Q2, the figure was only 31%.However, the number of exporting businesses admitting that raw material costs were contributing toprices pressures increased from 33% to 34% in Q3 2013.
“Regardless of business size, the UK economy has the opportunity to grow if it looks toexpansion within foreign markets. In order to achieve the government’s ambition to double thenumber of businesses exporting by 2020, we are encouraged by greater collaboration acrossgovernment and industry to drive exports and develop a single UK brand identity, which promotes theUK economy abroad. We look forward to helping more British SMEs reap the rewards of internationalexpansion,” Couchman concluded.
