NFT Distribution, the UK’s leading partner to the chilled food and drink sector, has signed a five-year contract renewal with CHEP, the world’s leading provider of pallet and container pooling solutions, for managed pallets in the UK and Ireland.
The new deal will see CHEP supply around 1.1 million of its industry standard B1210A pallets (12000x1000mm) every year into the NFT Distribution network by next summer. The pallets will supply NFT Distribution’s existing shared user warehouse in Daventry, Northamptonshire, along with other NFT customers, helping to deliver multiple products to the UK and Ireland’s network of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) retailers as part of NFT expansion plans.
CHEP’s supply of pallets will also play a pivotal role in supporting NFT’s new handling and distribution centre located at the Port of Tilbury which is targeted to be open for business by late 2015. It will have capacity for 25,000 pallets within the 230,000 square feet facility and be able to handle a throughput in excess of 2.5 million cases per week.
The innovative temperature-controlled facility is strategically positioned to provide optimum inbound solutions for importers, regardless of the point of entry into the UK’s South East. As such, the facility represents a significant investment for NFT Distribution, and is strategically very important to its ambitious expansion plans.
NFT Distribution Managing Director, Andy De’Vere, said: “This port-centric extension to NFT’s offering and substantial expansion to its capacity will be a further step in defining its future development and growth as a key logistics provider in the global food industry. To achieve such an expansion, it’s crucial that we partner with organisations who share our vision and have the capability to deliver. CHEP is the ideal partner for our future growth plans.”
This new agreement between NFT Distribution and CHEP is a culmination of a trusted and growing relationship that has been built over the past six years. Further opportunities to work together are expected to arise over the course of the new agreement, including transport collaboration. CHEP’s innovative transport collaboration programme encourages manufacturers, retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs) to work together to reduce the empty miles by identifying potential transport legs that can be reduced or removed completely.
CHEP UK & Ireland Managing Director, Rod Francis, said: “This deal represents a natural progression for our partnership. Clearly, there are strong synergies between our two organisations, and we’re delighted that NFT Distribution has placed its trust in CHEP to support its rapid expansion plans. I’m hopeful that we can also progress with the transport collaboration opportunity to help drive down costs and carbon emissions.”
About CHEP
CHEP is a global provider of supply chain solutions serving the consumer goods, fresh food, beverage, manufacturing and retail sectors in more than 60 countries. CHEP offers a wide range of logistics and operational platforms and support services that are designed to increase performance and lower risk while improving environmental sustainability. CHEP’s 11,500-plus employees and more than 275 million pallets and containers deliver comprehensive coverage and exceptional value, supporting more than 500,000 customer touch-points for global brands such as Procter & Gamble, Sysco, Kellogg’s and Nestlé. CHEP is part of the Brambles Group, the operator of a portfolio that includes IFCO, the leading provider of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) to the fresh food supply chain globally, as well as specialist container solutions providers to the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas sectors. For more information, visit www.chep.com
About NFT Distribution
NFT is the UK market leader in chilled food distribution providing a full range of logistics services for the food retail and manufacturing sectors. This capability covers primary and secondary chilled services and solutions through its state of the art transport, warehousing and supply chain infrastructure. NFT operates out of 7 strategically located warehouse platforms, providing true national distribution capability to every UK retailer every day. Its warehouses are all system controlled providing unrivalled track and trace capability to secure product and brand provenance.
NFT runs over 400 satellite tracked articulated vehicles that deliver c.120,000 pallets of groceries each week, travelling daily to every major UK retailer, wholesaler and other outlets. Through its wider network of activities NFT also provides extensive international coverage into and out of the UK, Europe and beyond. It has developed a unique capability for solutions design and through this capability has developed a range of innovative value adding logistics products designed to proactively drive costs out of its customers supply chains.
For more information: www.nft.co.uk
For further information, please contact:
Michael Potts,
Marketing Manager,
CHEP UK & Ireland
Email: Michael.potts@chep.com
Mobile: 07770-647498
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