DP World, the Dubai-based company building the new £1.5bn London Gateway port on the Thames Estuary, is close to signing up Britain’s biggest private freight company Uniserve as a key customer.
By Alistair OsborneLast Updated: 7:15PM BST 26/05/2012
DP World, the Dubai-based company building the new £1.5bn London Gateway port on the Thames Estuary, is close to signing up Britain’s biggest private freight company Uniserve as a key customer.
Uniserve, which was founded in 1984 and has clients including Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, is the first company known to be in talks over operating at the new container port.
When complete, the port will combine six berths for handling the world’s biggest ships and an integrated distribution centre – the largest logistics park in Europe.
DP World has continually refused to talk about its prospective customers, except to say that it is confident about the commercial viability of the project. Simon Moore, London Gateway’s chief executive, said: “People who are coming have concerns over how they may be treated in between time if we make their names public now.”
A spokesman added: “We welcome everyone’s intention to be at London Gateway.”
Uniserve is understood to be planning to build 1m sq ft of warehousing in the logistics park, though the move is not expected to undermine the company’s proposals also to expand at London Gateway’s main competitor Felixstowe, where it is also investing heavily.
Richard Everitt, the Port of London Authority chief executive, said one of the main attractions of the new port was its location.
“Felixstowe may be closer to the main shipping lanes but in terms of hinterland, London Gateway is much closer to the main consumer markets. When every big company today is looking to cut distribution costs, fuel bills and carbon emissions, it makes sense to cut the distance goods travel by lorry by as much as possible.”
London Gateway is due to open at the end of next year. Uniserve declined to comment.