UPS today continued its expansion in France with the official opening of a €25 million new depot to serve Lyon and plans to open a new depot to cover Paris city centre later this year.
The investments in France, which include three other new depots in recent years, are part of the company’s overall $2 billion network expansion programme in Europe up to 2019.
The approximately €25 million investment in the new 8,000 sqm facility in Lyon-Jonage is the company’s largest of its kind to date in France “and shows UPS’s strong commitment to customers in this key market”.
The fully automated facility simultaneously functions as a package sorting centre and a distribution hub for parcels of all sizes. It is equipped with advanced technology that can process more than 10,000 packages per hour, tripling UPS’s previous sorting capacity in the Lyon area.
The new facility employs more than 160 people and has a total delivery fleet of 120 vehicles. It also accommodates 40 load and unload positions for trucks and 132 parking positions for package delivery cars. The Lyon-Jonage facility is strategically located, giving UPS easy access to the city’s highways and airport.
“This new hub is needed not only to support our existing customers and their growth, but also to create capacity to support our future business development in this very important market,” said Mike Harrell, country manager, UPS France. “We are reaffirming UPS’s commitment to expanding commerce in France and connecting our customers to global markets.”
UPS operates 53 facilities (including small package and supply chain solutions facilities) in France. New facilities in recent years included Savigny, Chartres and Toulon.
Asked about the company’s expansion plans for France, UPS Europe spokesman Maarten Verbanck told CEP-Research: "We are excited about our prospects in Europe and France. The investments we are making in France are part of the $2 billion European infrastructure investments we announced in 2014 we would make over five years."
In particular, the company will open a new facility in Charenton, on the south-east outskirts of Paris, which will serve the capital’s city centre. Further details on this new depot will be available in the summer, he said.
UPS currently employs approximately 2,600 people and has more than 2,000 delivery vehicles in its French network. It also has more than 4,000 points of access for customers and serves six airports across the country.
