DPD invests £10.2m in six depots in the UK

Parcel carrier DPD UK has invested £10.2m in six new depots in England. The new facilities include replacement depots for those in Dartford, Feltham and Reading, as well as entirely new locations for the company in Lincoln, Liverpool and Radlett in Hertfordshire.

DPD said it expects to create more than 250 jobs at the new depots, which will expand its capacity to handle a “significant increase” in business-to-consumer parcel volumes that have been generated by the Predict service, which offers a one-hour delivery window for e-commerce parcels.

DPD, part of La Poste’s international express-parcels subsidiary GeoPost, employs more than 7,000 people in the UK, operating more than 3,000 vehicles from more than 50 sites.

The company delivers 1.6m parcels per week.

Dwain McDonald, DPD UK’s chief executive, said the level of investment being put into the network was “unprecedented” this year.

“These new depots are part of our ongoing expansion, enabling us to increase our capacity and ensure we are always several steps ahead of the competition and the growing demand for our services,” he said.

“Our business has grown rapidly in the last few years due to the popularity of Predict and Follow My Parcel, but this level of investment in brand new locations and larger, purpose built depots makes a huge difference in terms of efficiency.”

Investments

DPD is investing £100,000 in each of its new locations in Liverpool and Lincoln to develop new 27,500 square foot depots. The facility at Dixon Street, Lincoln, will take over routes from DPD’s Sheffield, Nottingham and Peterborough depots, serving areas around Doncaster, Grimsby and Retford.

The facility at Spitfire Road, Liverpool, will service 55 new routes in the region, and support DPD’s existing depots in Warrington and Manchester.

DPD is investing £2.5m in developing a new depot at Radlett, and also in upgrading depots into 36,000 square foot purpose-built facilities in Feltham, Dartford and Reading.

The Dartford depot in Wilmington will serve customers in South London and parts of Kent, as well as the Bluewater Shopping Centre. The depot’s capacity will increase from 2,000 to 8,000 parcels a day, allowing it to take 50 new routes and volume from depots in Central London, Croydon and Maidstone.

The Feltham depot on Forest Road will help manage the big increase in parcel volumes in South London, supporting depots in Southall and Croydon. It replaces the existing depot at the Camgate Centre in Stanwell.

The new Radlett site in St Albans has been chosen to service the growing volumes in the North and West London areas.

The Reading facility on Imperial Way is replacing the DPD depot on Commercial Road. Its expanded capacity will see 30 to 35 new routes created reaching Guildford, Henley, Maidenhead and Windsor.