This month, UPS (NYSE: UPS) celebrates the 40th anniversary of its operations in Europe. On August 16, 1976, the company took its first step outside of North America to West Germany and from there expanded across the globe.  

UPS’s European operations began small with 200 employees, 120 delivery trucks and 20 facilities. However, this base set the stage for many years of unparalleled global expansion. Today, UPS Europe employs more than 45,000 people, drives 14,000 vehicles, including bicycles, and operates more than 400 package facilities. In addition, UPS has 16,000 UPS Access Point™ locations across the continent where customers can pick up and drop off packages.

“We look back at our forty successful years in Europe with pride and I want congratulate all UPSers across the region,” said Nando Cesarone, President, UPS Europe. “Europe now represents fifty percent of our international business and is one of the fastest growing regions for UPS. We have committed to invest two billion USD in our European network from 2014 to 2019 – a commitment that will help drive customer success for years to come.”  

In the UK, UPS’s investment in the DP World London Gateway facility is reflective of the strength of the company’s growing logistics network in the UK. It demonstrates UPS’s long-term commitment to helping customers of all sizes connect to markets all over the world, while boosting local jobs and the local economy.

In 1985, UPS further expanded beyond Germany to link five European countries – France, the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands – to the United States. Less than a year later, the company added 10 more European countries to its portfolio. Today, UPS helps connect businesses in all 56 European countries and territories to their customers throughout the continent and around the world.