DHL Express has announced the opening of a new service centre near Cambridge, which it has said it will invest £25 million in over the next 15 years.
The service centre, DHL says, will ‘feature a £2m automation system to boost efficiency and is powered by 100% renewable energy, showcasing the future of cutting-edge and sustainable logistics’.
It is ‘equipped to handle both current and future customer shipments across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and parts of Suffolk’. DHL notes that these areas have seen an increase in parcel shipments over the past 15 years, hence the need for a ‘larger and more modern facility’.
James Keys Kidd, service centre manager at DHL Express said: “We have witnessed rapid growth in the area over the past few years and are set on meeting the increased demand.
“We’re delighted to kickstart operations at our brand-new site and offer an even more efficient service to our businesses and residents across the area, all powered more sustainably too.”
The site, DHL claims, ‘has been developed with sustainability at the forefront’. It features solar panels which, combined with green energy from the grid, allow it to run on 100% renewable energy.
The building also has ‘energy-efficient electric radiant heating and rapid-rise warehouse doors to minimise heat loss’, and ‘has been equipped with charging facilities to support 90 electric vans and a further 20 charge points for employee cars’.
Spanning 125,000ft², the facility is projected to handle over 50,000 items per week. With the assistance of automation, it is expected that 4,000 items per hour can be sorted at the service centre.
