Fortec has brought its domestic and international freight under one roof at its Watford Gap hub as it completes a major £3m expansion of the premises.

The renovation project,  due to be completed at the end of June, has added an extra 70,000ft² of warehousing space to the site, giving the network an extra 50% of operational capacity at Watford Gap and allowing the network to close its international hub at Northampton.

Future plans include the installation of new technologies at the newly expanded site later this year, aimed at increasing productivity and efficiency.

The company has also upgraded it health and safety measures to include a full review of its safe systems of work and the introduction of an in-house training programme.

Fortec business unit director Craig Johnson said the expansion and improvement of the site will help the company continue to grow and develop.

“This £3 million investment demonstrates our commitment to our members and to continue growing Fortec in the future,” he said.

He told MT: “We are the only pallet network that has consolidated its international and domestic freight under one roof,” and added that the move will allow Fortec to reduce lead time and limit the handling of the products, to reduce damage.

“In this market it is all about how fast you can get to your delivery destination,” he added.

Johnson said the network, which has 84 members, “is always looking for more members.”

He added that member numbers have remained steady. “There has been some churn with some new members recently joining and some having moved on because we asked them to move on, largely because of the changes we are driving around standards – it is all about getting the correct foundations in place so we can deliver sustained for both our members and the hub,” he said.

The expansion of the hub follows a major management restructuring at the pallet network in February which saw Craig Johnson appointed business unit director, Graeme Morris taking on the role of operations general manager and Steve Wyton appointed as commercial general manager.

In the same restructuring Stuart White was made the UK and international hub manager at the Watford Gap hub.

The four new appointments followed the departures of operations general manager Chris Dennigan, who moved to Pall-Ex to take up the role of head of operations in December last year and network director Dave Spong, who left the business in January this year to join Palletways as regional general manager.

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