DP World Archives

New Driver Facility at Southampton Port

Posted on 31 January, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

DP World has agreed to lease a 7,500 sq.m site next to its Southampton container terminal to develop state of the art facilities for lorry drivers, as the leading provider of smart logistics solutions continues its major investment programme in the UK.

The £15m project will deliver driver welfare facilities – including a restaurant, showers, toilets and 24-hour security – as well as increasing the size of the storage area used for containers moved by road and rail. DP World is developing the facility to build on the £40m which it has invested in the resilience of its operations at Southampton since 2021 and further develop its capabilities across the supply chain.

Ernst Schulze, UK Chief Executive at DP World, said: “We are delighted to announce this major step forward in the facilities we provide for drivers at Southampton, which will help to ensure that they are fit and rested to keep the supply chain moving. The overnight lorry park will provide access to amenities they need to do their jobs safely and well.”

“The new land will also free up valuable storage space to expand further our rail interconnectivity. Our investment in rail at both Southampton and London Gateway eases congestion on the roads, with 300,000 trucks taken off UK roads each year. Last year we launched a new intermodal train service connecting our logistics hubs at London Gateway and Southampton, as we continue to build our end-to-end capability.”

The new site, which was previously used for car storage and is expected to be fully operational this year, has been leased from Port of Southampton owner ABP.

Alastair Welch, ABP Southampton Regional Director, added: “As the UK’s leading export port, Southampton plays a key role in keeping Britain trading. This new facility will significantly improve driver welfare as well as reducing the number of vehicles having to park up for rest periods elsewhere in the local area.”

DP World – which operates ports, terminals and logistics businesses on six continents – runs the UK’s most advanced logistics hubs at London Gateway and Southampton: two deep water ports with access to freight rail terminals, and a rapidly expanding logistics park on the doorstep of the capital. Between them they moved a record volume of cargo in the first half of the year, with a combined total of 1.93m TEU.

The new driver facility is the latest investment in the UK by DP World. A new £350m fourth berth at London Gateway now under construction, which will lift capacity by a third when it opens in 2024. The construction project is supporting 1,000 jobs and the port-centric logistics park will employ a further 12,000 people when it is completed in five years’ time.

Over the last 10 years DP World has invested £2 billion in the UK, supporting thousands of jobs. Another £1 billion of investment has been earmarked for the UK over the next 10 years, making this country the company’s largest investment outside the Middle East.

Ocean Freight LCL Service from UK to India

Posted on 24 January, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

With the weak pound providing opportunities for UK exporters currently, Davies Turner is delivering a further boost to its ocean freight services between the UK and the Indian sub-continent with the launch of a direct weekly LCL (less than container load) service to Nhava Sheva.

Davies Turner’s previous service to Nhava Sheva was via transhipment in Jebel Ali, but by going direct, the UK freight forwarding and logistics company can offer a fast 25 day transit time port to port.

Consolidation of cargo in the UK is undertaken at one of Davies Turner’s regional distribution centres at Birmingham, Bristol, Cumbernauld, Dartford, or Manchester, for the weekly ocean freight service that departs from London Gateway port.

John Adams, Davies Turner’s Head of Trade – Middle East, ISC & South Africa, says: “India’s population of 1.4 billion people and a domestic market that is growing year on year, means there is large demand for imported goods from Europe. Our latest service improvement will help to support clients who want to use Nhava Sheva as a gateway by providing a quicker, efficient and cost effective service option.”

The dedicated weekly service to Nhava Sheva also has direct links to the following inland container depots (ICDs) – Ahmedabad, Garhiharsaru, Ludihana and Patparganj (New Delhi).

The new direct ocean freight LCL operation adds to other similar direct services that Davies Turner offers to gateways in Asia, Middle East, South Africa and USA including Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Durban and New York, as well as services to other areas of India that are offered via transshipment at Singapore.

Globalisation: Manufacturing Moves Closer to Home

Posted on 17 January, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

New research has revealed the emergence of major shifts in globalisation, as companies rush to move manufacturing closer to home to protect against supply chain disruptions while increasingly protectionist policies are breaking the world into trade blocs.

The latest Trade in Transition study, commissioned by DP World and led by Economist Impact, captured the perspectives of company leaders as they navigate the latest disruptions to global trade – from the conflict in Ukraine to inflation and extended covid-lockdown policies in some markets.

Its key finding is that 96% of companies confirmed they are making changes to their supply chains due to geopolitical events.

The change has been swift. In the space of just a year, the number of companies shifting their manufacturing and suppliers– either to their home markets or nearby – has doubled compared to 2021. This is driven mainly by efforts to reduce costs and the risk of disruption. But the shifts are not even. While 27% of companies said they were decreasing the length of their supply chains due to geopolitical events such as the war in Ukraine, another 33% plan to expand into more stable and transparent markets.

Inflation threat

The persistent threat of inflation was cited by 30% of the executives as having the most significant negative impact on trade over the next two years. Inflationary pressures are seen in input costs — from supply shortages – and transport, through high energy costs and shipping capacity constraints. In a scenario of monetary tightening, companies across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific anticipate exports to be 1% lower than under a business-as-usual situation due to decreasing production and demand.

If inflationary pressures continue, exports in the Middle East and South America are expected to be hardest hit, declining by 3.52% and 2.74% respectively. Only Africa is expected to see its exports rise by 0.26%.

A fragmenting world

The fragmentation of the world into trade blocs was also cited by 10% of respondents as limiting the growth of international trade. Beyond the war in Ukraine, US-China tensions and cyber warfare are preventing the efficient functioning of economies worldwide. This is leading to increasingly protectionist policies such as the US Infrastructure Bill and the CHIPS and Science Act, which aim to incentivise and prioritise US and North American manufacturing. Similar protectionist policies are popping up all over the world, leading to further fragmentation of the global trade system.

Businesses are finding ways to respond and grow. Altering supply chains either through diversification, regionalisation, or reshoring to build resilience is one response.

The global survey of 3,000 company executives found that companies in North America and Europe are most likely to outsource more than half of their services within their region. This is followed by 40% of companies in South America, 36% in the Middle East, 32% in Asia-Pacific and 18% in Africa, outsourcing within their regions.

The widespread and increasing adoption of technology is another way to build resilience into the supply chain. Some 35% of respondents said they were currently implementing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to facilitate the tracking and monitoring of cargo, while another 32% of companies are adopting digital platforms to enable direct business with customers or suppliers.

Speaking at the launch of the report at the World Economic Forum in Davos today, DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said:

“The report is tangible evidence of how globalisation is changing as companies are forced to adapt to new challenges. By bringing production closer to the final customer, firms can reduce the number of touch points involved in the supply chain and build greater resilience into the flow of cargo around the world. But the trade environment is always changing. The next challenge that will alter these trends is an economic slowdown looming over regional markets. Agility, real-time visibility and end-to-end supply chain capabilities will be critical to ensuring companies can continue to find new efficiencies in an increasingly challenging environment.”

John Ferguson, Practice Lead for New Globalisation at Economist Impact, added:

“The shift to regionalisation and reshoring has been sharp, but unsurprising given the triple threat of higher costs, increased risks and government incentives or requirements to do so. Furthermore, businesses in previous decades have only had to focus on the economic aspects of trade, being price, quality and delivery. Now they have to account for other non-economic factors such as resilience and sustainability. All of which is having a drastic shift in supply chains, which we are witnessing both in the survey results and global trade patterns shifts”.

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