Mars has announced a multi-year partnership with logistics leader DHL. The landmark project will see the construction of two state of the art warehousing facilities and the creation of a world class logistics operation.
The new sites, based in the Midlands and East London, represent an investment of £350m and have been designed with sustainability at front of mind. The project will deliver in excess of 12,000 tonnes of annual CO2 savings – the equivalent of boiling 25.8 million kettles – reducing Mars’ logistics carbon footprint in the UK by 16%. The buildings themselves will be partially solar powered and rated in the top 1% of non-domestic buildings in UK environmentally.
Mars UK transport over 1.2 million pallets of their products every year – which, if you stack those pallets on top of each other, is the equivalent of shipping the height of Mount Everest every other day. The new logistics operation will remove 7.7% of current Mars transport from roads, equating to a million miles a year, or 8,547 times around the M25. All while increasing warehousing capacity by over 50%. Ensuring that Mars is well positioned to keep pace with increasing consumer demand and deliver their much-loved portfolio of products to future generations.
Tim Walker, Supply Chain Director at Mars UK said: Our partnership with DHL will deliver a world class logistics operation that is sustainable, smart and agile. What is good for our business is also good for the planet. This project is a meaningful step in our sustainability journey as we look to create the world we want tomorrow – which we know starts with how we do business today."
Jim Hartshorne, Managing Director, Retail & Consumer & Ireland, DHL Supply Chain said: "We’re delighted to be extending our global partnership with Mars in the construction and management of these sites. Our shared environmental commitments are supported by this investment and we are creating long term, exciting jobs in both of these communities. This project will be the foundation of the UK logistics chain for Mars for many years to come and we are incredibly proud to be selected to lead in this project."
The two purpose-built depots, ‘East Midlands Gateway’ and ‘London Thames Gateway’, will be operational in the spring of 2022 and 2023 respectively. The sites will have a combined square footage of over a million feet and they will both have state of the art high bay facilities which include innovative automated pallet storage.