Parcel courier firm DPD has taken warehouse space at UK Land & Estate’s Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead, in the North East.
The firm is moving into a 37,458 sq ft warehouse formerly occupied by WHSmith’s, which was being marketed by Knight Frank and Naylors Gavin Black. The property was built for WHSMith in 2004 at UK Land Estates’ Queen’s Park development, on the site of the former Ingersoll Rand headquarters.
DPD has indicated that the move will allow it to offer next day delivery to the surrounding area. The deal is part of the company’s stated growth plan to invest £200m to expand its next-day parcel capacity, including £100m on vehicles, £60m on 15 new regional depots (10 more than originally planned in 2020) and the remainder on technology. It is set to increase its workforce in the UK by 6,000 – 2,500 new full-time jobs including depot, hub and management positions, plus 3,500 new drivers
Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO commented, “We are experiencing the biggest boom in online retailing in the UK’s history and we are making this unprecedented investment in our infrastructure and people to ensure we can continue to meet the high levels of demand for our services.
“DPD has been one of the fastest growing major companies in the UK in the last 10 years, due to the growth in e-commerce. But what we have seen in recent months is potentially a much more significant shift in behaviour, and we believe elements of it will be permanent. As a company, we’ve been dealing with rapid growth and ongoing investment cycles for a long time, but this is a very significant moment.
In November 2020, Logistics Manager reported that the company had snapped up M&G Real Estate’s Orbital 48 warehouse in Dartford, Kent.
Colliers International acted for M&G Real Estate on the letting, alongside joint agent Glenny.
