Pictured: (l-r) Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet
Member for Economic Growth and Prosperity Ben Adams, APC Operations
Director Syed Ziaullah, APC Managing Director Ivor Skinner and
Gareth Williams, Development Director, Opus Land
The UK's largest independent next day parcel service is moving
to a new £14 million, 128,000 ft2 national hub site at
Kingswood Lake, Cannock, Staffordshire. The move is in response to
the exceptional 15 per cent growth of APC as customers select its
next day delivery services via its client-focused local depots.
Each month APC collects, routes and delivers more than 1.4 million
parcels.
The new national hub will provide more than double the capacity
of the Essington site near Wolverhampton and it will benefit from
state of the art material handling systems, including an Interroll
cross-belt sortation system. APC will also expand its hub-based
trunking fleet with 50 Don-Bur EcoStream double-decker
trailers.
"The new hub is essential to APC's national operations and
future development; it is a major investment made possible through
the growth we are enjoying across the APC network. With the high
demand for our next day deliveries, we have outgrown our existing
hub in Essington. The new site at Kingswood Lake will provide us
with a well-designed, state-of-the-art and very efficient national
base. Also, by remaining in the Midlands, we can retain our highly
skilled workforce and the location is convenient for future
recruitment, as and when we need additional hub staff. We are also
equipping the new hub with advanced systems that will boost
productivity and efficiency," said Ivor Skinner, APC Overnight
MD.
Development company Opus Land is project managing the new site,
which has the backing of Staffordshire County Councillor Ben Adams
who is also a Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and
Enterprise.
"We are delighted to be engaged on a second project at Kingswood
Lakeside Park only weeks after handing over a completed office
building to Veolia Environmental Services. As their Development
Agents we have been working closely with APC for the past year to
identify the ideal bespoke solution to meet their current and
future needs, both in terms of location and building spec," said
Opus Land Development Director Gareth W Williams.
Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for economic
growth and prosperity Ben Adams said: "APC Overnight is a national
leader in the courier industry and another flagship firm to locate
at Kingswood Lakeside. We're proud to have developed the site and
rejuvenated it from a former open cast mine into a thriving centre
for business.
"APC joins the growing family of businesses choosing to locate
in Staffordshire which really does demonstrate that our county is
an ideal place to invest. The economy and prosperity are our top
priorities and we are ensuring that we invest in supporting
business and in the necessary infrastructure to attract major
national and international companies."