The Palletways Group, Europe’s largest and fastest growing express palletised freight network, has expanded its services in Europe with the unveiling of a new £10m international hub in Knüllwald, central Germany.
The investment is in response to the increasing volumes currently handled by 56 German members in the Palletways network. The new 50,000 m² site includes a 7,300m² transhipment hall, parking and infrastructure, which will upgrade services from the existing hub in Homberg, triple the delivery capacity across the region, and increase productivity by 10% across Europe. Palletways has also reserved space at the site for another, almost equally large, area to accommodate future growth and create storage capacity for fulfilment services.
The new hub will offer significant benefits to the 20 European countries that it will help to serve. These include:
• Daily connections between Germany and UK
• Significantly improved premium services from Germany to Benelux
• Improved international services
The new hub also provides the core Palletways service centre drop off and collection services for delivery of goods across Europe, backed by state of the art operational processes, modern barcode scanning system and mechanical handling equipment.
Dave Walmsley, managing director of Palletways UK, said: “This strategic investment is a key part of our strategy to maintain our position as the number one pallet network in the UK and Europe.
“The new hub offers an outstanding improvement to our European connections for our UK customers. In-bound and outbound volumes between the UK and Germany will move across our pan European network faster and more efficiently than before, which presents the opportunity for us to improve our customer service even further.
“The new hub will be supported by our pan-European IT platform and central customer service operation in Germany to ensure we provide the best possible customer experience.”
James Wilson, Palletways Group chief executive, added: “Our European network has experienced significant and continuous growth over the last decade, which has enabled us to grow organically. This year alone we’ve added three new hubs to our network, including Lyon and Montpellier. We are also investing in award winning IT systems and enhanced infrastructure to offer the best service possible for our members and customers.”
Palletways’ pan-European network is growing at a substantial rate. Today it handles more than 38,000 pallets across Europe every day and volume growth is predicted to reach 10% next year. The company has recently invested in additional new hubs including Montpellier and Lyon (France), Fradley (UK) and expanded existing facilities in Zaragoza (Spain) and Milan (Italy). The expansion of Palletways coincides with the recent acquisition of the business by Imperial and the company embarking on its next phase of growth across Europe.