December 2011

20th December 2011

Stobart has restarted its railfreight service between Valencia, Spain and Barking.  The seasonal rail service operated by Europorte Channel, will carry 30 chilled containers of fruit and veg from Spain to supermarkets and retailers in the UK.

Hellmann Worldwide has launched a hub at Basildn to provide a direct feed service to areas in eastern Europe.  The aim is to eliminate the need to operate through other Hellmann hubs in Europe and improve transport times.  The new hub will serve the main industrial areas of St Petersburg and moscow, whilst also feeding directly into regions as distant as Siberia.

Clipper Group is building a 350,000 sqft plant in Wynyard (near Teesport) to be opened August 2012.  Clipper Group has secured a 10 year deal with Asda to provide logistics services at the site for the George clothing business.

Norbert Dentressangle Romania and Danine Romania have joined forces to create NDL Frigo Logistics to serve the Romanian chilled goods logistics market.

Gefco has won a contract with Centrale Automobile Cherifienne (Moroccan importer for Porsche, Audi, VW and Skoda).  All vehicles imported from Germany, Belgium and Argentina will be sent to Gefco's Morocco site in Til Mellil and will be responsible for storage, preparation and nationwide distribution.

Norbert Dentressangle has won a contract with Needlefresh Direct.  Norbert Dentressangle manages the import and direct distribution of real Christmas trees from Belgium to supermarkets, DIY stores, independent outlets and garden centres in the UK within 4 days of harvesting.  Norbert Dentressangle also makes deliveries to customers across the UK from growers' sites in Hereford and Yattendon (Basingstoke).  There will be over 200 trailer loads of trees transported over the festive period.

London City Bond's Jeff Stanton (Non Executive Chairman) is leaving to pursue other interests.

Wincanton has won 3 clients in the Banking, Media and Financial sectors for its Records Management Division.

Oakland International has won a contract with Steinhaus GmbH.  Oakland International will distribute retailer branded sauces to the Irish market.  The products are manufactured in Germany and the stock is transported to Oakland's Irish depot in Ashbourne (Co. Meath) via the company's UK hub in Redditch.  Once in Ireland, the stock is stored ready for picking and consolidating.  Oakland provides a daily service to Musgrave through their backhaul fleet for delivery into Musgrave shops across Ireland.

Rhys Davies Freight Logistics has won a contract with Dabur International (Healthcare & Natural personal care products manufacturer).  Rhys Davies will provide a daily service to major mainstream and independent retailers and wholesalers through the UK and Europe from Rhys Davies' Cardiff depot.  The products come in from the United Arab Emirates and India via Rhys Davies' freight forwarding arm.  Rhys Davies also carries out value added activities on behalf of the manufacturer.  

12th December 2011

City Link has won a £1.5 million contract with JML for the distribution of its products to B2B and B2C customers.  City Link's Newcastle depot is working with JML's distribution centre at South Shields handling deliveries for the JML retail arm.  It involves delivering JML goods to retailers across the UK and Ireland.  City Link also handles deliveries for JML Direct (B2C).  Deliveries are handled through City Link's next day service.

Archbold Logistics has won a £0.5 million contract with OTL for the distribution of its products in the Manchester area.

Palletways 51 has won a contract with Kent Pharmaceuticals.  Palletways 51 will distribute over 1,200 pharmaceutical product lines to wholesalers in the Birmingham area.

Tibbett Logistics has opened its second intermodal (road-rail) terminal in Bucharest.

Norbert Dentressangle has been awarded 'Best European 3pl' for the second consecutive year at the recent eyefortransport 3pl summit.  Norbert Dentressangle was awarded a distinction in the Fresh Food category.

Vinoteque (part of London City Bond) has won a contract with Steep Hill Wines.  Vinoteque will store and distribute wines across the UK from the fine wines depot in Burton on Trent.

Schenker has won a 3 year contract with the International Sailing Federation.  Schenker will carry out the movement of sailing equipment worldwide.

Damco has won a 3 year contract with Kingfisher.  Damco will carry out the international supply chain management for several of kingfisher's businesses in Europe, which include brands B&Q and Castorama.

Blacks Leisure has put itself up for sale in a bid to save the loss making business from collapse.

Tesco has appointed Kevin Grace as its new Group Commercial Director.

6th December 2011

Knights of Old is to merge with the Midland Group creating a business with sales approaching £50 million.  The two companies will continue to operate as they are with the individual business units looking to integrate during the coming year.

Fowler Welch has appointed John Davies as its new Business Development Director.  John comes from DHL Supply Chain where he was the Development Director for Major projects.

DSV Solutions has won a contract with Hologic.  DSV will provide bespoke temperature controlled warehousing, packing and loading, receipt and put-away, order pick and pack and dispatching, returns management and stock control from its 115,000 sqft warehouse in Milton keynes.  It will also handle around 8,000 outbound consignments per year.

Hermes has won a contract with Find Me A Gift for 2 years.  Hermes will handles deliveries of over 100,000 parcels and packets using its next day and 48 hour tracked services.  Orders are collected on a daily basis from the retailer's central warehouse in Southam (Warwickshire) and transported to Hermes' national hub in Nuneaton.  Orders are then distributed to +7,500 Hermes local couriers through the company's regional depot network for delivery to houses across the UK.

Yusen Logistics has won a contract with Bosch & Siemens Home Appliances.  Yusen will carry out national UK distribution for the complete product range.  It will deliver to some 2,000 delivery points for the company's small independent electrical retail customers.

Palletways has won a warehousing and distrbution contract with White Horse Energy.  Palletways will carry out storage at its 100,000 sqft warehouse at Fradley Park and will also process orders, provide a pick and pack service, modify and re-work products ready for national distribution via Palletways' network.

UPS is acquiring Piefe Group.  Pieffe Group provides storage, distribution and cold chain solutions to the Pharmaceutical brands.