ELB’s new initiative aims to take pain out of Capital deliveries

The Croydon transport firm has acquired a six-acre site next to its Beddington Farm Road HQ, which it will use to store freight on behalf of construction companies who need goods delivering within the M25.

Hauliers operating in London face a barrage of stringent requirements, such as ULEZ regulations, FORS accreditation and drivers being ADR trained.

HGVs over 12 tonnes will also need to have a minimum three-star DVS rating to operate in Greater London from October.

ELB holds all these accreditations and said it planned to offer a convenient service for those that don’t, as well as offering a parking service for trailers, flatbeds and cranes, as none are available in central London.

Dan Philpot, ELB’s commercial director, said the idea evolved from a plan to establish a FORS-accredited network of hauliers.

“The idea of this hub is to provide a location where hauliers can bring goods and we deliver onwards,” he explained.

“We can then offer open storage and hold aggregates, bricks and building supplies for them, which we will load and send on.

“It’ll also offer auxiliary parking in a huge yard space, and it all means other hauliers don’t need to worry about FORS, ULEZ, DVS or ADR accreditations. We take care of the final-mile deliveries for them.”

ELB MD Peter Eason said the plans would address an ever-growing list of requirements for hauliers to operate within the M25.

He said: “The rules now mean lots of hauliers will simply start refusing to come into London. There’s a huge expense involved, and we hope this new hub will help address that.

“Many building sites now want drivers to complete an induction; plus, the DVS rules kick in later this year which will lead to further expense.

“What we are offering will address those issues and simplify operations for the construction sector in the capital. There is nothing else in central London like this.”