Market news

Developer investor SEGRO has started construction of its 5 million sq ft multi modal logistics hub SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton Gateway.

Tesco has removed one billion pieces of plastic from its UK supply chain.

Has automation enabled e-commerce growth, or has e-commerce growth enabled further automation in the warehouse? It’s an unanswerable question, as one factor indelibly impacts the performance of the other. Michelle Mooney investigates.

Going back to a post-Covid-19 economy isn’t going to happen soon, so businesses are adapting to new trading conditions. However, the speed of change is shaking up the property market and demand for big sheds. Liza Helps investigates.

His boss describes him as “an old-school guy”, but AAD Transport driver Gordon Taylor was quick to embrace the innovative technology as well as the sumptuous comfort and eye-catching appearance of his very special Mercedes-Benz Actros Edition 1.

Renewable fuels provider Gasrec says results published yesterday following a £20m government funded programme to trial, develop and demonstrate low emission vehicles in the road transport sector have highlighted the significant environmental and financial benefits of gas over diesel, particularly in long-haul applications.

Caddick Developments has brought forward plans to deliver a new logistics and industrial hub in Leeds Valley Park.

Tesco says it plans to have a fully electric home delivery fleet by 2028 as part of wider carbon reduction initiatives to reach net zero carbon by 2035.

With a second national lockdown set to begin in England tomorrow, non-essential retail could see a £6.8 billion decline in sales over the next four weeks and logistics operations have been warned of a strain on warehouse and delivery capacity in December.

Air cargo volumes in September stood at 92% of those in the same month in 2019 as the market continued to show signs of recovery from global lockdowns.

For many in logistics and supply chain, especially in retail, the fundamentals of the Christmas peak are ingrained.

Royal Mail and JAS Forwarding have signed leases at Heathrow Logistics Park.

Growth in retail sales “is beating even the most optimistic expectations” as consumers have increased spending despite pandemic.

At a time when internet retail sales are already at a record high, the anticipated spike in online orders expected to be generated by this Autumn’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales season will mean that fulfillment companies and their courier partners are likely to find themselves under greater pressure than ever.

Yesterday, England was introduced to a three-tier lockdown system. Which is probably something we’re all going to be experts on in a few weeks, despite being baffled at the outset. For those in tier one (currently the vast majority of Merseyside) one of the rules means that pubs just selling drinks will have to close, but if they serve food they can open.

Sea, air and rail ports in England will be invited to bid for freeport status before the end of the year, with the government aiming for the first freeport in the UK to be open for business in 2021.

E-commerce sales could be 169% higher than shopping in store during the Christmas peak, a survey by one artificial intelligence supplier has found.

Christmas 2020 is set to break online shopping records as growth continues to accelerate due to the global coronavirus pandemic, with overall e-commerce sales expected to jump from initial predictions of 11% to 19% reaching £78.9bn (source: Edge Retail Insight).

Logistics UK (formerly the Freight Transport Association) has warned that if the government does not consider the economic impact of its latest coronavirus containment measures it could lead to further job losses.

The Cabinet Office has predicted queues of some 7,000 port bound trucks in Kent and delays of up to two days for freight movements by road across the Channel following the end of the Brexit Transition Period on 31 December.