DP World in the United Kingdom has signed an agreement with the leading road transport operator Swain Group for a 9,105m² distribution facility at its London Gateway freight and logistics hub.
Under the three-year agreement, Swain Group will use the quayside site for the temporary storage of imported construction materials such as stone and “next-generation” offsite manufacturing for the construction of buildings, before their onward distribution to the end customer by lorry.
The location, 183m from London Gateway’s berth 7, will deliver significant cost and time savings, according to DP World’s announcement.
Along with the Port of Tilbury and Ford’s Dagenham plant, London Gateway will form Thames Freeport after being awarded freeport status by the UK government earlier this year, further cementing its critical role in the UK’s international supply chain.
“We aim to be a partner in our customers’ business success, providing fast, reliable and flexible links to international supply chains and markets,” said Ernst Schulze, chief executive of DP World in the UK, who went on to add, “I would urge companies looking to expand to contact us to find out more about how they could benefit from being part of a freeport.”
In addition, Matthew Deer, managing director at Swain Group, noted that the company handles “over 100,000 tonnes of building materials a year on ships arriving at London Gateway and expect this figure to continue to grow as construction in London and the South East picks up following the pandemic.”
Deer went on to explain, “On arrival at the berth DP World will shunt inbound containers to our facility, where our team will unpack the stone product, temporarily store it where necessary, and then assemble outbound orders for transport via our own fleet to destinations across Britain such as garden centres and builders’ merchants. This integration of the supply chain will generate cost and time efficiencies both for us and our customers.”
Founded in 1918, Swain Group is a fifth-generation family-run business, which has become one of the largest family-owned road transport operators in Britain. It has also played a key supporting role in the development of London Gateway, with its heavy haulage division delivering machinery for the building of the port ten years ago.
