Hermes boosts capacity in the south of England

Hermes has boosted its capabilities in the South and South West by moving to two new facilities to meet growing capacity demands.

The parcels carrier has moved its Portbury processing operation, which had been at the site for 21 years, to a newly built facility in Avonmouth.

The new 13,100m² facility is more than double the size of the former site. Hermes said it wanted to boost its capacity in the region because of growth forecasts for 2016, with peak periods in particular demanding more from its network.

Hermes predicted that the new site will process around 9.5 million parcels a year, and has signed a lease on it for 15 years.

The company has also bolstered its operation on the south coast, moving its Nursling, Southampton, operation nine miles up the road to Hedge End. With the facility's 60-strong team, Hermes predicted the new site’s parcel volumes will surpass 10.8 million a year. The Headge End site was built in 2011, and Hermes leased the property for 10 years.

Martijn de Lange, chief operating officer, said: “With online shopping volumes continuing to rise, carriers have a responsibility to their retail clients to continuously invest in their networks.

By moving to new premises in Avonmouth and Southampton we have significantly strengthened our infrastructure which will enable us to further improve the services we provide to our customers across the UK.”

Construction recently began on the carrier’s new £31m super hub in Rugby, which will be able to process up to 1.1 million parcels a day.