DPD £100m hub complete

Work on DPD’s £100m East Midlands hub has been completed, with the facility expected to be fully operational by next September.

The 360,000ft² hub at Hinckley Commercial Park, Leicestershire, has 264 loading dock doors, 73,087ft² for mezzanine split over two floors and will have a Beumer automated sortation system which will run the length of the 5,059ft-long building.

The parcel carrier claims that the hub was completed ahead of schedule. Building work began in July 2013.

The operator plans to recruit for 1,000 additional full-time staff in the new year, with available positions including: deck hands, parcel loaders, management positions, vehicle maintenance, HGV mechanics, security, admin and IT.

DPD chief executive Dwain McDonald said: “Hinckley gives us significant scope to expand our capacity and allows us to stay one step ahead of the growth in the online parcel market and our competitors.

“We've also opened 18 new depots around the country in the last two years, nine of them being purpose-built developments. As a result, we have been creating around 1,000 new jobs a year and 2015 will see us continue with that level of growth."

In October DPD revealed the opening of six new or expanded depots.