DHL invests €195m in the UK

DHL will invest 195 million euros (£156 million) in the United Kingdom. It invests heavily in the East Midlands and Heathrow, by improving the sorting and aircraft landing facilities at these sites. It will be Deutsche Post DHL’s largest investment in the UK in 14 years.

The airport hub at the East Midlands will get a capital injection worth 112 million euros, while the hub site near Heathrow receives an investment worth 40 million euros. But DHL also will invest in its sites in Manchester, Croydon and Sheffield with additional warehousing, sorting facilities and operational processes. The investment, which will be made by 2016, should lead to improved international trade, shorter transit times and more efficient supply chains for British businesses.

Exploit increase in trade with China
Europe’s biggest parcel delivery group seeks also to address the gigantic rise in global ecommerce and exploit an increase in trade with China. DHL has forecast that ecommerce as a proportion of total retail in Europe could grow from 8 percent today to 40 percent by 2025.

“This investment in the UK forms a key part of DHL’s global growth and service improvement strategy, following the recent investment of 129 million euros in the Middle East”, says Ken Allen, chief executive of DHL Express. With the development of its European hub in Leipzig the parcel delivery company wants to strengthen its leadership position, the Press Association writes.

Britain is coming back
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is delighted dat DHL is continuing to invest in the UK, supporting the growing number of British businesses selling their products abroad. “This new investment is further evidence that our long-term economic plan is working and Britain is coming back. But the job is not yet done and we must make sure the world’s largest companies maintain the confidence they have regained in the UK if we are to build a resilient economy.” With 46,000 staff, DHL is one of the UK’s biggest foreign employers.

The last couple of years, DHL has invested 700 million euros in its systems and upgrading its sorting systems in its home country Germany.