The world’s largest provider of temperature-controlled logistics solutions, which is based in Novi, today announced it has started expanding one of its warehouses in England.
Lineage Logistics broke ground on a 92,000-pallet-position, fully automated expansion at its Peterborough Superhub, located 70 miles from central London.
When completed, the Peterborough location will be a strategically positioned South Eastern Superhub that will serve both retail and foodservice customers with unique supply chain requirements. It will feature some of the world’s most sophisticated automation and refrigeration technology, helping to reduce energy consumption and overall environmental impact, according to the company.
This new capacity will complement 26,000 existing conventional pallet positions at the property, which combined with the expansion’s automated design will enable maximum flexibility and as highly customized solutions for customers. This investment brings Lineage’s total automated warehouse count in the UK to six, with a total of 330,000 automated pallet positions.
“Lineage’s South Eastern Superhub is extremely well situated and in close proximity to major motorways that are key to the UK’s supply chain, strengthening our ability to efficiently connect customers with major food markets and population centers,” says Mike McClendon, president of international operations and executive vice president of network optimization at Lineage. “We are also thrilled to offer a combination of automation and conventional racking upon completion, which will allow us to meet the diverse needs of both retail and foodservice sectors while also delivering energy efficient and cost-effective solutions for customers.”
Lineage’s phased expansion approach in Peterborough is in response to growing customer demand from both online and conventional grocery sales – a trend that was accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the UK, online sales now account for 13 percent of all grocery sales, up from 7.4 percent in March 2020, and new online customers are predicted to continue shopping online. Frozen items have also increased in popularity, and the sector is up 22 perccent year over year.
In addition to Lineage’s expansion in Peterborough, the final phase of the company’s expansion plans in Heywood will be fully operational in March 2021 and add 22,000 pallet positions to the existing location.
“Our large expansions in these two critical logistics hubs highlight Lineage’s commitment to adapting to our customers’ demands as consumer expectations shift in the UK and around the globe,” says Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage. “We are, and have always been, 100 percent focused on our customers and their extended supply chains, and we are pleased to make these significant investments, create more than 230 much-needed jobs and provide expanded access to our next-generation cold storage network.”
Lineage Logistics is the largest temperature-controlled supply chain and logistics provider in the UK and will offer more than 525,000 pallet positions of capacity in country following construction. The company supports more than 2,000 regional, national, and international customers across 14 facilities nationwide, including Scotland, and complements its warehouses with one of the UK’s largest and most reliable transportation networks. More than 1,500 of Lineage’s 16,000 global employees are based in the UK.
See the September-October 2020 issue of DBusiness magazine for a feature on the growth of Lineage Logistics.
In Related News: Lineage Logistics says it has achieved the goal of its Share A Meal campaign to help provide 100 million meals to people in need in response to COVID-19.
As a result of financial donations made to Feeding America in support of the campaign, Lineage has been named as a Visionary Partner of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. Feeding America Visionary Partners are recognized for their generous contributions or commitments of $4 million or more, donations of 40 million pounds or more of food and grocery products, or combined gifts of $2 million or more and 20 million pounds or more of food and grocery products.
“Lineage is in a unique position to directly help overcome the challenges of food insecurity, and I’m incredibly proud to lead a company that continues to so actively live out our purpose of helping to feed the world,” says Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage. “We are extremely grateful for all of our Share a Meal partners who came onboard to support the campaign. Without each and every one of them, it simply would not have been possible to achieve such an ambitious goal.”
Lineage launched its Share A Meal campaign on March 23, calling on global influencers, individuals, and food chain leaders to help provide 100 million meals to people affected by COVID-19 and the global food emergency that followed the pandemic’s onset. The campaign took a multi-faceted, innovative approach to raise awareness and funds which involved donations of time, expertise, services and employment.
