DHL Express, part of the DHL courier business opened up a new Southern Hub on Friday 3rd March. The site is based on the western edge of Heathrow airport and is a part of an investment plan first mentioned in 2014. The site is now operating with over 750 employees and provides a vital service for the larger DHL UK service.
The Heathrow site now works on managing their deliveries and shipments to the South East of England. The Hub was an investment of €65 million by DHL in order to expand their systems. The site will be fully operational 24/7 and will enable DHL to meet the increasing demand of its customers, as well as their international requirements. DHL Express’s new site has the equipment and capacity to process 28,000 pieces every hour. This speed is more than four times as fast as DHL’s previous site.
Other perks of the site include a gym for the staff members as well as offering agile working. The building also benefits from having photo-voltaic panels to offer solar power and includes water saving measures in order to keep the site sustainable and reduce the CO2 emissions of the company. DHL’s concern for the environment is reassuring seen as though it works transporting packages all around the world as well as on a more regional scale, which is a very polluting industry to be involved with. Therefore, measures to minimize their carbon footprint shows responsibility of the business. The new Southern Hub will see their emissions reduced by 40% against the minimum building requirements.
Visiting the site on the opening day was the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt. Hon Chris Grayling MP. The MP opened the Southern Hub then spoke to a variety of the employees that work on the site as well as being taken on a tour of the site by the HL Express UK and Ireland CEO Ian Wilson. Ian Wilson has been in his current position since January 2017.
