Last month I visited the Port of Liverpool as part of my epic journey of 80 trips to warehouses across the UK.
In the late 19th Century, 40 percent of the world’s trade passed through Liverpool’s docks and in the 20th century those same docks served as entry points for American music, influencing local bands such as The Beatles. The iconic Cavern Club, situated near the original docks, stands as a testament to the enduring connection between Liverpool’s maritime heritage and its vibrant music culture. Today, while the architecture around Albert Dock has been transformed into a bustling tourist attraction and Conference Centre, industrial activities have shifted a few miles up the coast to Bootle.
Among the key players in the modern maritime landscape are the Denholm Group and Jenkins. Founded by Scottish brothers John and James Denholm, the Denholm Group was established nearly 160 years ago, making it twice as old as the UK Warehousing Association, but despite their long history, Denholm is a thoroughly contemporary business – they’re even on TikTok! As well as storage of timber and steel, they handle consumer goods such as bean-bags and there are other divisions within the business that provide a range of services from short-sea shipping to supporting UK naval bases and processing fish for the trawlers fleets of Scotland. The Denholm Group keeps a low profile and is a hidden gem of the UK logistics sector.
Jenkins is a more recent business, originating in Belfast during the 1970s and 80s and having grown by acquisition since then. They too specialise in timber products – chiefly paper for everything from books to nappies and packaging as well as the consumer commodity that became famous during the Covid pandemic: toilet rolls. According to Jenkins, there was never a shortage, just a scramble to scale-up supply logistics when demand unexpectedly spiked. With sites at Felixstowe and Sheerness, Jenkins is a truly port-centric logistics company and they are expanding their horizons by holding non-paper goods such as solar panels and even ‘branching out’ into Christmas Tree storage!
Both Denholm and Jenkins, privately-owned enterprises with Celtic origins, maintain collaborative partnerships with landlord Peel Ports, the custodian of Liverpool’s maritime heritage. While Denholm remains firmly in family hands, Jenkins transitioned to private equity ownership in 2019. Visiting these companies was a delight, as I witnessed first hand their respective contributions to Liverpool’s logistics landscape.
Despite the prominence of the East Midlands, home to nearly 20 percent of the UK’s largest warehouses, in this special year of celebrating warehousing, our sector must acknowledge the strategic importance of other regions too. This year, UKWA’s ambitious initiative of eight regional Roadshows to mark each of its eighty years, has already showcased the North West, with a gathering at Jungheinrich’s state-of-the-art facility in Warrington’s Omega development. Our journey will take in the port of Cardiff too, as we collaborate with Associated British Ports to host a provincial roadshow for Wales.
The whole of the UK economy relies on logistics and we see valuable warehousing activities in every region. This tour of 80 warehouses will recognise them all.
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