Hermes UK has upgraded its infrastructure in southern England with the relocation of two parcel sorting facilities to increase capacity as it anticipates parcel volume growth in the region this year, especially during the peak season.
The parcel sorting centre in Portbury, near Bristol, has been relocated to a newly built facility in nearby Avonmouth which more than doubles the size of the previous depot. The new facility in Avonmouth measures 3,995 sqm and allows loading on three elevations, as well as “efficient lean working practices”. As a result, around 9.5 million parcels are expected to be processed by the company’s 50 staff working at the facility.
In addition, Hermes has relocated its depot in Southampton from Nursling, which covered 2,323 sqm, to Hedge End, approximately nine miles away, to bolster its infrastructure along the South Coast. The high specification facility in Hedge End was built in 2011 and incorporates a mix of dock levellers and drive-in doors. It will house a team of 60 employees, with annual volumes expected to exceed 10.8 million parcels.
Martijn de Lange, Chief Operating Officer at Hermes UK, said: “With online shopping volumes continuing to rise, carriers have a responsibility to their retail clients to continuously invest in their networks. By moving to new premises in Avonmouth and Southampton, we have significantly strengthened our infrastructure which will enable us to further improve the services and solutions we provide to our customers not just in the South and South West of England, but across the whole of the UK.”
The relocation of both facilities follows the start of the construction of the company’s state-of-the-art automated parcel distribution hub located in Rugby, Warwickshire. Hermes has invested £31 million in the 25,084 sqm Midlands Super Hub which will have the capacity to process up to 1.1 million parcels every day.
Recently, Hermes also invested £18 million in new handheld scanners and introduced an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) time window service to its portfolio of products.
