As a market leader in the region for export and logistics, Global Freight recently took part in a round table meeting with representatives from Heathrow Airport to promote Telford as the place to create a logistics hub to support the building of its third runway.
The Heathrow team visited two possible sites for the development on land at Hortonwood and a property at the town’s Railfreight Terminal during their fact-finding mission.
The aim is to create four Hubs outside London where work will be carried out on parts for the runway. Those parts will then be transported to the airport for construction on-site.
The Heathrow expansion will be the first major infrastructure project in the UK to pioneer the large-scale use of logistics hubs. The aim is to allow businesses from across the UK to get involved in the supply chain and to spread the benefits of the development throughout the country.
The Hubs will also create a legacy of construction excellence in the UK for future generations.
The Telford locations are on a shortlist of six possible sites in the West Midlands and the Heathrow team met representatives from Telford & Wrekin Council, The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and business leaders including Anton Gunter, Global Freight’s National Sales Manager, during the visit.
Anton said: “There is no doubt that the siting of a Heathrow Logistics Hub in Telford would provide long-term sustainability for the town and the region.
“We know, from own experience as a business already working in the logistics field, that Telford would be an ideal location for this project. It’s a town and region with a rich manufacturing expertise and is centrally located with excellent transport links.
“Add to that a diverse and skilled workforce and a plentiful stock of land, it’s easy to imagine why a Logistics Hub would sit perfectly in the Telford landscape.
“The economic benefits to businesses and the knock on effect on the local economy would be huge for Shropshire and beyond. We hope our input was useful to the Heathrow team and has reinforced the argument in favour of Telford.”
Heathrow is Britain’s busiest airport and ranked fifth in the world for passenger numbers but expansion is limited without the additional runway. A three-runway Heathrow would provide up to 740,000 flights a year.
For more information, visit www.heathrowexpansion.com/.
