Palletways invests in new £10m central hub in Germany
The Palletways Group has unveiled a new £10m international hub in Knüllwald, central Germany. In a statement sent to Post&Parcel today (6 January), Palletways said that the investment is “in response to the increasing volumes currently handled by 56 German members in the Palletways network”.
The 50,000 m² site includes a 7,300m² transhipment hall, parking and infrastructure, which will upgrade services from the existing hub in Homberg, triple the delivery capacity across the region, and increase productivity by 10% across Europe.
Palletways said that it has also reserved space at the site for “another, almost equally large, area” to accommodate future growth and create storage capacity for fulfilment services.
The new hub will offer: daily connections between Germany and UK; significantly improved premium services from Germany to Benelux; and improved international services. It will also provide the core Palletways service centre drop off and collection services for delivery of goods across Europe, backed by “state of the art” operational processes, modern barcode scanning system and mechanical handling equipment.
Dave Walmsley, managing director of Palletways UK, said: “This strategic investment is a key part of our strategy to maintain our position as the number one pallet network in the UK and Europe.
“The new hub offers an outstanding improvement to our European connections for our UK customers. In-bound and outbound volumes between the UK and Germany will move across our pan European network faster and more efficiently than before, which presents the opportunity for us to improve our customer service even further.
“The new hub will be supported by our pan-European IT platform and central customer service operation in Germany to ensure we provide the best possible customer experience.”
James Wilson, Palletways Group chief executive, added: “Our European network has experienced significant and continuous growth over the last decade, which has enabled us to grow organically. This year alone we’ve added three new hubs to our network, including Lyon and Montpellier. We are also investing in award winning IT systems and enhanced infrastructure to offer the best service possible for our members and customers.”
