DHL Supply Chain gave Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a first-hand experience of how goods get into shops and homes, during his visit to the company’s recently opened London Gateway facility.
The site was was opened last summer and handles 2,400 pallets of goods a day. The building is 42 meters high, making it one of the tallest distribution centres in Europe.
It has also achieved BREEAM Outstanding accreditation, placing it in the top 1% of non-domestic buildings in the UK environmentally and features 3,700 solar panels, which produce 27% of the site’s power usage.
Built in partnership with confectionary manufacturer Mars, it will reduce Mars UK’s logistics carbon footprint by 7.7% and remove a million miles a year from roads.
Saul Resnick, DHL Supply Chain UK and Ireland chief executive, conducted the Prime Minister on a tour of the facilities before a group of DHL colleagues were invited to the latest PM Connect town hall event.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “It was a pleasure to visit DHL’s London Gateway distribution centre to speak to staff and tour the impressive site. DHL and Mars’ £350 million investment into this site is a big boost for the area, creating hundreds of jobs.
“Jobs create growth, and financial security which is one of my top priorities, and it was great to see this in action.”
Resnick added: “We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister to our world-class facility to show how DHL is enabling growth for British businesses, developing infrastructure for a more sustainable future and investing in talent.
”It was a fantastic opportunity for our colleagues to showcase the essential work they do to keep goods flowing around the country as well as ask important questions about the issues that matter to them.”
