DHL eCommerce Solutions announced plans to invest €560m across its UK ecommerce operation, DHL Parcel UK. The investment comes following a 40% volume uplift since the start of 2020 and soaring demand for its ecommerce and B2B services. The expansion project is designed to deliver the right infrastructure to facilitate growth as well as putting the business at the forefront of sustainable and digital logistics.

Nearly half of the investment will be in a new hub in SEGRO Park Coventry Gateway, located south of Coventry Airport. The new facility will have the capacity to handle over 500k items per day and is expected to create over 600 new jobs.

An initial €75m will be invested in upgrading the company’s fleet with a major focus on alternative fuel vehicles. The fleet investment includes 6 fully electric 18tn trucks, 30 Liquefied Natural Gas (bio-LNG) trucks, and 18 electric tugs. This roll-out will be followed by further sustainable fleet investment going forward.

Finally, the DHL eCommerce Solutions will also invest over €220m to create 10 brand new collection and delivery depots across the UK, and 20 more existing sites will be expanded. The new and expanded depots will create an additional 3,500 jobs across the country. The locations of the new sites have been strategically chosen to reduce the distance required to serve customers, enabling further roll-out of electric vans and improving speed of service.

Peter Fuller, CEO of DHL Parcel UK, says, “This investment is a real demonstration of the excellent work our people and partners have delivered over the past two years to get us to the level of growth where major expansion is required to meet customer demand. E-commerce is going to continue to shape the world around us, this investment, along with the strength of the DHL brand and our leading approach to digitalization and sustainability will put us in a strong position to take advantage of market growth.”