Europa Launches Single Hub Concept
11th June 2015
Europa Road has announced that it is centralising its European road freight by creating a single hub at its newly opened ?30million 26,368 square metre Dartford site. The launch of this hub concept creates the UKs largest European groupage hub, with all Europa Road’s network of 10 regional branches around the UK, trunking directly into that hub.
Europa believes that this change puts the business on target to become the clear market leader for groupage business between the UK and Europe. The team believes that the new operating model will ultimately change the market place for UK/ European groupage distribution.
Andrew Baxter, Managing Director of Europa Worldwide Group said “The launch of this single hub concept will result in improved efficiencies as additional trunking costs for northern freight are fully offset by reduced international line haul costs. By centralising all our volume in one hub, we will be able to increase payloads and operate direct line services to more European hubs, which will drive down overseas distribution costs.
In addition, this move means we will be able to build daily services to all our European partner depots, which will reduce transit times and improve quality.
Europa believes that the dramatic simplification in its operational infrastructure will enable it to reduce operational and overhead costs.
Andrew added “No other company operates a domestic network with direct trunks to the whole of the UK, from the east side of London. We estimate Dartford is the gateway between the UK and the continent for 95 per cent of groupage business; it is therefore the perfect hub location for European freight. These economic and transit time benefits cannot be replicated by national hubs based in the midlands.
This is a critical issue for the pallet networks, which will continue to limit their progress in the European groupage market. Taking a pallet from London to Birmingham and then to Paris, means two things, higher prices, and slower transit times. This is not a model that will succeed in the long term.
Most of our competitors have operating models with regional hubs, so we believe we have an unprecedented opportunity to steal a march on them which is why we have built the UK’s largest European groupage hub. Our objective is to become the clear market leader for groupage business between the UK and Europe during 2017; we believe that this move puts us on target to achieve that goal.
As of the 1st August, Europa will close its northern hub operations in Birmingham but its Birmingham sales branch, seafreight office and local distribution will be unaffected by the change. Europas Birmingham logistics operation will expand into the space vacated by the road freight operation.
This move will impact on 29 jobs in Birmingham but a proportion will be offered the opportunity for redeployment elsewhere, where vacancies are available.
Europa Worldwide Group employs more than 500 people across 13 sites in the UK and Hong Kong and is represented in 100 countries. As well as its successful road freight operation, Europa Worldwide also provides specialist air, sea, warehouse and showfreight services.