2 February, 2022

Prologis makes strategic UK appointments

Posted on 2 February, 2022 by Keith McKinley

Prologis, the developer and owner of logistics property, has confirmed three strategic UK hires to kickstart the New Year as it seeks to enrich its skill set and further strengthen its platform for growth in a dynamic logistics property market.

Caroline Musker is joining Prologis from Lichfields, where she gained more than 17 years’ experience from a number of roles, including her latest position as senior director. She has been involved in a number of Prologis’ projects during this time. As a Director at Prologis, she will be taking the newly-created role of Head of Planning, helping to get projects off to a good start and exploring ways to add value for the customer and the business. She will also be helping to assess potential acquisition and investment opportunities.

Gillian Scarth joins Prologis as a director in the Capital Deployment and Leasing team, after 15 years’ experience as a senior development manager at Kier Property. Gill has an impressive professional network and extensive experience of managing diverse customer portfolios offering a mix of uses in multiple sectors. She will primarily be focused on driving growth and supporting the delivery of new and existing projects in London and the South East.

Simon Perks is joining the Capital Deployment and Leasing team at Prologis UK as a director, with a specific brief to look for opportunities to further strengthen the company’s asset portfolio in London and the South East. In his former role as senior development manager at The Crown Estate, he gained considerable experience in developing and adding value to a unique land and property portfolio, which includes 10 million sq. ft. of assets in areas of central London.

Paul Weston, Prologis UK regional head, added: “We are delighted to be making these strategic hires at the start of the year to help drive our growth. There has been a significant increase in demand for logistics property during the pandemic and finding land and property to develop, in the right locations is a key focus. By enriching our skill set and hiring talented people, we aim to boost our competitiveness and unlock more opportunities in the year ahead.”

BotsandUs optimises Huboo’s UK warehouses

Posted on 2 February, 202225 July, 2025 by David Priestman

British robotics and AI company BotsAndUs has been brought in by Huboo to deploy its fully autonomous state-of-the-art robotic system across its UK-based warehouse and fulfilment centres.

By engaging BotsAndUs, Huboo will use UK-manufactured robotics and AI technology to further enhance the day-to-day life of its warehouse employees, optimising operations, realising maximised efficiency and reducing costs. The robots will use state of the art technology to scan the entire warehouse, building up a digital model for real time analysis and insights on storage of goods in their space, which will feed into the optimisation programme.

Launched in 2017, Bristol-based Huboo – a fast-growing and multi award-winning fulfilment technology provider with operations in the UK and mainland Europe – has revolutionised the world of eCommerce fulfilment. It utilises sustainable and human-centric methods to support a wide range of online retailers, including largescale, medium and small businesses in electronics, food and drink and cosmetics.

Huboo’s unique hub model uses micro-warehouses, managed by teams of operatives who act as an extension of the brands that they’re fulfilling orders for. By combining best-in-class technology with talented people, Huboo creates the optimum customer experience for its clients.

Paul Dodd, CTO and Co-Founder of Huboo, said: “During the pandemic, we have clearly demonstrated the strength of our full-stack fulfilment solution at a time when the industry was facing severe challenges. Our unique hub model system has certainly made us stand out in our competitive industry. We’re proud of our fulfilment service that puts people at the heart of everything we do, and we’re always looking at ways to make life easier and better for our brilliant people.

“Our engagement with BotsAndUs and use of its robotics and AI will optimise Huboo’s warehouse space, allowing us to reduce costs and improve performance, while delivering a better working environment for our everyone at our fulfilment centres.

Oana Jinga, BotsAndUs Co-Founder, said: “There is great synergy between us and Huboo. We share a vision for the use of technology – we develop robotics and AI logistics solutions to drive better business decisions. Importantly, it’s about making life easier for humans rather than replacing them from operations.

“Huboo has created an amazing environment and culture, where people can be authentic. They make bold decisions with a focus on growing the business and being leaders in their field. We are both committed to supporting the industry and our clients on that journey. Our autonomous robotics platforms and computer vision will revolutionise acceptance and tracking processes in warehouses.”

Nick Robson, Huboo’s Head of Robotics, said: “As a technology company, data collection is critical to our efficiency and growth. We are excited to work with BotsAndUs on this application; the opportunity to capture live data can help drive real change to the industry.”

BotsAndUs is a London-based data-driven technology company using artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and robotics that is transforming the logistics industry through automation and real time digitisation of assets. Founded in 2015, its state-of-the-art robotics and AI products combine social sciences with human-centred design and cutting-edge engineering.

Mim – its fully autonomous mobile and modular robot – measures, tracks and finds goods across warehouses without workflow disruption and provides real-time data at every stage of the process.

CLICK HERE to watch Min in action

Garbe secures plot near Bad Hersfeld

Posted on 2 February, 2022 by Keith McKinley

Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH is continuing its expansion course. In the municipality of Ludwigsau near Bad Hersfeld (Hesse, Germany), the Hamburg-based project developer has acquired a 192,000 sq m plot of land. A logistics centre with a total area of up to 97,000 sq m is to be built on it. Garbe Industrial Real Estate is investing around €85m in the project.

The site, which is ready for construction, is located in the Bad Hersfeld-Ludwigsau Enterprise Park, a roughly 840,000 sq m industrial estate in the North Hessian city-triad of Bad Hersfeld, Bebra and Rotenburg an der Fulda.

“With this purchase we have secured one of the last available, ready-to-build prime sites in this size range,” emphasises Jan Dietrich Hempel, Managing Director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. “It is located in an economically strong area that is now one of the most important logistics regions in Germany.”

It occupies a central, convenient location; via the B27 Göttingen–Fulda, the site is connected to the A4 motorway, which links Kirchheim with Dresden. The Bad Hersfeld junction is 10km away.

The Hamburg-based project developer is planning a logistics centre in Ludwigsau with a total hall area of up to 97,000 sq m. They will be distributed over two buildings, which will be parallel to each other.

Included are offices, social rooms and mezzanine areas. A photovoltaic system will be installed on the roofs to generate renewable energy. Electric charging points for cars and bicycles are planned for the outdoor area. Garbe Industrial Real Estate is aiming for the property to be certified according to the Gold Standard of the German Sustainable Building Council.

“Our project developments are always based on internationally recognised ESG criteria,” says Hempel.

Construction of the logistics centre is scheduled to begin in the second half of the year. Completion is planned for the end of 2023. In addition to discussions with a tenant for the entire site, talks with other potential tenants are now underway. The mayor of the municipality, Wilfried Hagemann, welcomes the success of the settlement: “We are pleased that we have been able to win the pan-European company Garbe Industrial Real Estate for our site as a project developer.”

The purchase of the property was brokered by the real estate consultancy Logivest from Munich, which is also entrusted with the exclusive letting mandate.

Report uncovers hidden cost of workplace accidents

Posted on 2 February, 202229 July, 2025 by David Priestman

A report published by health and safety solutions provider Seton suggests organisations may be unwittingly paying the price for poor health and safety practices in the workplace,.

While accidents that cause injuries, absences, compensation claims and fines are known to be costly, employers aren’t always aware that a poor safety culture can also impact staff morale, productivity and turnover – and ultimately their bottom line.

Seton has published a new report highlighting the benefits of prioritising employee safety, with insights from experts in personal injury law and HR.

Across the UK, almost 700,000 people suffered a non-fatal workplace injury in 2019/20, while 142 were killed in 2020/21, according to the HSE (Health and Safety Executive). This is clearly devastating for workers and their families but it also comes at a cost £5.6bn per year to individuals, employers and the government – or around £1.7m per fatal injury and £8,800 per non-fatal injury.

However, Alex Hinton, a product innovation manager at Seton, believes this is just the tip of the iceberg: “All employers have a legal obligation to protect their staff from harm but it’s more than a tick-box exercise. They need to create a safety culture, where everyone can perform their duties confident that they won’t be exposed to unnecessary risks.

“Choosing the right safety equipment is key. Barriers, for example, are a visible sign that organisations take their obligations seriously – but it’s important to choose ones that are easy to use and won’t leave staff feeling frustrated or worse still, reluctant to deploy them when needed.

“Employees who understand and consistently follow best practice are more likely to perform well and take fewer risks. Similarly, someone who is engaged with company life is more inclined to follow health and safety rules, which is why we’d urge health and safety teams to work closely with their HR teams to communicate relevant messages.”

His comments were echoed by HR consultant Jacqui Adams, of Tick HR, who also contributed to the report. She said: “Given employee expectations around health and safety, any organisation that falls short of the mark is likely to experience high turnover – which affects their bottom line. As well as the cost of replacing someone, they’ll also see skills, knowledge and experience walk out the door, which impacts productivity.

“HR and health and safety have many crossovers and best practice and engagement happens when the two teams work together to achieve the required outcomes.

“I’ve seen both health and safety teams and management view health and safety simply as a form-filling and box-checking exercise. It meant employees then saw health and safety as a ‘nuisance’ and paid little attention to the communications, which wasn’t in anyone’s best interests.”

CLICK HERE to read the full free report Worth the Risk? Counting the cost of health and safety breaches

Cazoo improves visibility with Zetes

Posted on 2 February, 202229 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Cazoo, one of Europe’s leading online car retailers, has partnered with Zetes as its trusted advisor to enhance visibility, traceability and inventory management within its rapidly expanding operations.

Cazoo is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Europe, pioneering the shift to online car buying and selling and has already sold over 45,000 cars online since its launch two years ago. Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all of its cars before offering them on its website for either delivery or collection in as little as 72 hours, and has thousands of cars available at any time.

With the used car market currently experiencing exponential growth, Cazoo has seen a rise in customer demand, with revenue increasing by 267% in Q3 2021. Which is why Cazoo is partnering with supply chain specialist Zetes to deploy an agile and flexible traceability solution to monitor and keep track of vehicles as they move through its storage and preparation facilities.

Real-time visibility of stock

By implementing advanced RFID technology, Cazoo will benefit from the real-time visibility of stock locations and the movement of goods, ensuring faster asset location and loss prevention. With fast deliveries and straight-forward, reliable service at the forefront of its customer promise, the increase in visibility of assets throughout its supply chain will also enable the organisation to locate and deliver vehicles to customers in the most efficient and timely way possible.

Integrating seamlessly with existing systems, the solution will also enable operatives to undertake accurate inventory counts within minutes, increasing accuracy and efficiency within operations. With Zetes’ robust solution, Cazoo will not only be able to realise immediate benefits, but improve long-term agility and flexibility, enabling them to protect and further enhance a strong customer promise as business continues to grow.

Thamid Alim, Procurement Manager at Cazoo, said: “Working with Zetes will allow us to benefit from real-time visibility and traceability within our operations, ensuring stock is in the right place at the right time and enabling us to uphold our strong customer offering.

“Partnering with a supply chain specialist with an agile and scalable solution will enable us to protect and further enhance our service offering and customer promise as we continue to grow.”

Amir Harel, Managing Director, Zetes UK, adds: “We’re excited to be working with Cazoo to provide a solution to help them enhance visibility within their operations and meet the demands of their growing business. We look forward to working with them as they continue to grow and transform the customer experience within their industry.”

TBWB celebrates 45th anniversary

Posted on 2 February, 202225 July, 2025 by David Priestman

This month marks a historic event for logistics automation, as TBWB (Technical Bureau West-Brabant BV) will be celebrating its 45th anniversary on 14th February 2022, a rare achievement in this industry.

TBWB is a family business founded in 1977 by Henk Friederichs, and focuses mainly on industrial automation, specialising in internal logistics. Since 2009 the company has been taken over by the next generation, son Bart Friederichs who is general manager, and his sister Jikke Friederichs is head of HR.

On 14th February, TBWB also says goodbye to Willem Huijben, an employee from the very beginning, who will enjoy his well-deserved retirement after 45 years of loyal service.

TBWB is a specialist for the automation of internal logistics processes. Whether it concerns the digitisation of order picking processes and the integration of automated installations, palletising concepts, or the complete automation of processing, storage and transport systems, TBWB describes itself as the specialist for every logistical challenge.

TBWB delivers complete custom projects for the automation of internal logistics, from engineering to delivery and service (24/7). Whether it concerns transport and sorting systems, material handling and order picking, to automatic storage of pallets and goods, TBWB says it can offer the right solution for every company active in logistics. TBWB’s core business is warehouses, distribution centres and production companies.

It puts together a specialised project team for each project, and claims that the optimal bundling of knowledge and know-how, in collaboration with its reliable partners, ensures the desired result.

With TBWB Flowcontrol, it controls the entire automated installation plus PLC. With TBWB Stockcontrol, it manages the stock and warehouse processes (location, stock and storage) for automated solutions such as automated warehouses, pick-to-light systems, and barcode scanners. With TBWB Sortercontrol, TBWB says it has a unique solution for controlling sorting installations. Its software team seamlessly links all these software packages to your ERP or WMS (Warehouse Management System).

Its customers include Ahrend, Trans-O-Flex, Hitachi Transport Systems, Destil, Montapacking, Intertoys, Fabory, Bego, Sumitomo, CB, PostNL and Merba.

Real-time visibility of stock

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