Rayleigh and Wickford MP and Minister for the Thames Gateway, Mark Francois, was briefed on the creation of 500 new jobs at the Thames Gateway Superport when he paid a visit to the facility at Corringham recently.
The London Gateway Superport, which now has two of its major berths operating, with a third due to open later this year, also has a major logistics park adjacent to the port itself. The American company, United Parcel Service (UPS) has announced plans to build a major distribution centre in the logistics park, which will create up to 500 new jobs from 2017 onwards.
The £120 million investment by UPS will create their largest distribution centre outside of the United States and, when operating at full capacity, it will be able to process some 30,000 parcels per hour. Preparatory ground works for the building of the new centre are already underway and the operation should create around 500 jobs when it is at full capacity next year. This development is within the context of continued growth at London Gateway, which could produce over 10,000 jobs over the next few years – once both the port and the logistics park behind it have been fully developed.
Commenting on his visit to London Gateway, Minister Mark Francois said:
“The London Gateway development is an extremely impressive feat of engineering, with a quayside some 3km long having been reclaimed from the Thames. On top of this fine engineering achievement the superport also represents one of the greatest jobs opportunities anywhere in the Thames Gateway and when it is working at full capacity, could result in around 2,000 jobs in the port itself, with up to another 10,000 in the logistics park behind. Given this very important jobs potential, I wanted to visit this successful part of the Thames Gateway and see some of this growing development for myself. London Gateway is a remarkable project and I wish them every success in the future.”