UK – London Gateway, Britain’s latest deep water container port, made two announcements this week regarding the steadily growing portfolio of companies wishing to trade from its Thameside premises. Having reached an agreement last June with Marks and Spencer to be the first tenant of the giant logistics park slated to rise in the hinterland of the quays, the DP World owned port has now contracted to handle all UK imports of the world’s largest supplier of beef and chicken from the beginning of May.
JBS Global UK Ltd, part of the JBS Group, ships meat from South America, Australia and the United States to destinations throughout Europe. JBS supplies fresh, frozen and processed food to the UK, including fresh and frozen beef, canned meat such as corned beef, and fresh and frozen chicken, pork and lamb.
Until now JBS has used two ports of entry to the UK, in the north and south, but now it will concentrate all imports through DP World London Gateway. The change has been made possible by the arrival of new services, which will link DP World London Gateway with South American ports such as Santos (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). David Squires, JBS Global UK Commercial Director, commented:
“We believe DP World London Gateway offers more efficiency and reliability for our supply chains and we want to take advantage of this. With better transport links and port infrastructure, we want to see improved lead times from arrival of the vessel to delivery to customer. We are constantly improving services and DP World London Gateway is going to continue to drive improvements in UK supply chains, so it’s a natural choice for us to make.”
The other sizeable operation which will become a feature at the Essex site is Pentalver, which will bring the competence it has from operating container transport, storage and repair facilities in all the major box ports since 1980. DP World are doubtless particularly pleased at the move as it is a significant nod to the Gateway’s potential from what these days is an AP Moeller-Maersk company. Pentalver already had facilities at Felixstowe, Southampton and upriver at Tilbury as well as their centrally situated inland 30 acre location in Cannock.
Empty storage, dry repair and reefer services will be provided at the new facility and landside infrastructure is a vital part of any port operation for shipping lines and DP World believe the knowledge, sustainability, experience and expertise of Pentalver within the port’s terminal area strengthens the value proposition of London Gateway itself. Chris Lawrenson, Managing Director of Pentalver, expressed satisfaction at what could prove a significant development for his company, saying:
“We are extremely pleased to be able to offer these services at DP World London Gateway. This is an example of Pentalver understanding and investing in our customer requirements and ensuring the services are available when required in the right location. Pentalver is very happy to develop a long-term relationship at the new DP World London Gateway terminal, which will undoubtedly become one of the largest ports operating in the UK.”
DP World statements on the two newest developments called Pentalver a ‘world class organisation’ and saying that the port will be working to enable the meat importer to reap maximum benefit from their decision after the acquiring the JBS business.