CHEP, the global leader in pallet and container pooling services, has opened its latest UK service centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. The venture is a joint undertaking between CHEP and Norbert Dentressangle Logistics (NDL), which has seen nearly £4 million invested in the site. NDL will run the operation as a sub-contractor to CHEP.
The plant – one of 15 CHEP service centres in the UK – was opened officially by Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne. “It’s a pleasure to see CHEP and NDL boosting the local economy in my constituency and that even in tough economic times, there are still opportunities for growth and partnership. I’m particularly excited about the innovative, environmentally friendly aspects of the site, and hopefully other heavy industries can learn from this.”
Both CHEP and NDL were involved in designing the layout at Hoddesdon, which meets all CHEP’s operating requirements. Two production lines have been installed which can handle around 1,500 pallets per hour. Around 5.6 million pallets are expected to pass through the site every year and there is capacity to increase this to 8.6 million in due course. The service centre will have a workforce of 150 people, most of whom have transferred from CHEP’s Dunstable service centre.
The service centre will use a bio-mass boiler as well as other environmentally friendly equipment, which demonstrates a clear commitment by both companies to reduce the impact of their operations on the environment. This is the first CHEP service centre in Europe to generate its power using this type of boiler.
The boiler uses waste wood from pallets which cannot be repaired which is turned into chips on-site for fuel, to both heat the building and produce hot water. In addition, glass makes up 15% of the roof area to maximise natural light, whilst motion-sensitive sensors have also been installed, instead of traditional light switches, to reduce electricity usage.
Underground water tanks have also been added under the six acre yard which will collect and store rainwater before releasing it gradually into the drainage system. This is to prevent flooding from drains backing up, if they are unable to cope with a surge of water caused by sudden heavy rainfall.
Michael Pooley, General Manager, CHEP UK & Ireland commented, “We are delighted to be opening this new service centre, which we decided to locate at Hoddesdon to improve the service to our customers in the South East.
Working with NDL we shall be monitoring the effectiveness of the bio-mass boiler and the other environmental measures we are putting in place, to see if they should be installed at our other service centres across the UK. “
Richard Cawston, Business Unit Director at Norbert Dentressangle Logistics, said, “We are confident that this venture will prove to be successful for both CHEP and Norbert Dentressangle, demonstrating environmental savings that can be generated from a facility such as this, whilst at the same time providing an excellent service to CHEP’s customers. The plant has exceeded expectations in the first few months.”
CHEP
Tel: 01932?833115
www.chep.com
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