Europa will "change market" for European groupage

European groupage specialist Europa Worldwide has said that its ‘One Hub’ concept will “change the market place for how freight is run into Europe” from the UK.

On 1 August Europa will close its northern hub operations in Birmingham (retaining its sales, sea freight, logistics and local distribution capabilities in the area) with all ten of its regional depots trunking into its newly opened facilities in Dartford, Kent.

Europa MD Andrew Baxter said that by centralising all of its European groupage volumes in one hub it will be able to increase payloads and operate direct line services to more European hubs – driving down costs. The additional trunking costs for the movement of its northern freight will be offset by a reduction in international line haul costs.

Simplifying the Europa network will also reduce operational and overhead costs, he said.

“This is a much better operating infrastructure than any of our competitors in the UK,” said Baxter, adding that the regional hub approach was reducing transit times and raising prices.

“No other company operates a domestic network with direct trunks to the whole of the UK, from the east side of London. We estimate Dartford is the gateway between the UK and the continent for 95% of groupage business; it is therefore the perfect hub location for European freight. These economic and transit time benefits cannot be replicated by national hubs based in the Midlands.

“This is a critical issue for the pallet networks, which will continue to limit their progress in the European groupage market. Taking a pallet from London to Birmingham and then to Paris, means two things, higher prices, and slower transit times. This is not a model that will succeed in the long term,” he added.

The Palletline member has a goal of being the market leader for groupage movements between the UK and Europe by 2017.

In May Europa opened a £30m, 290,000ft², HQ and logistics hub at Prologis Park in Dartford, Kent. It said the end of European groupage operations at its Birmingham hub would impact 29 jobs, with a proportion offered redeployment elsewhere in the business. Earlier this year it signed a one-and-a-half year 3PL warehousing and logistics deal with Euro Car Parts that will see products stored in Birmingham.

• Russ McNally, national general manager for domestic transport at Europa, has joined the board and become domestic transport director. His new role is central to the introduction of the One Hub concept – designed to speed up transit times and reduce handling Europa is centralising all of its European road freight. McNally started his career in HM Diplomatic Service, initially working in Whitehall (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) before moving into the freight business in the 1970s. He started his career at AGA Freight, which included running the imports, exports and operations. He also worked at Reeve Freight Services and launched his own business before being approached by Europa Worldwide to return as general manager -transport in 1999.