Lineage Logistics, LLC, the world’s largest and most innovative provider of temperature-controlled logistics solutions, announced significant expansion plans in the United Kingdom at its Peterborough Superhub in the South East just 70 miles from Central London and at its Northern Superhub in Heywood near Manchester.
Lineage broke ground on a 92,000-pallet-position, fully automated expansion at its Peterborough location to form a strategically positioned South Eastern Superhub, which will serve both retail and foodservice customers with unique supply chain requirements. This 35-metre tall expansion will feature some of the world’s most sophisticated automation and refrigeration technology, helping to reduce energy consumption and overall environmental impact. 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 significant 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,” said Mike McClendon, Lineage’s President of International Operations & EVP of Network Optimization. “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 which was accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the UK, online sales now account for 13% of all grocery sales, up from 7.4% in March 2020, and new online customers are predicted to continue shopping online (Kantar). Frozen items have also increased in popularity, and the sector is up 22% 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,” said Greg Lehmkuhl, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lineage. “We are, and have always been, 100% 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 over 525,000 pallet positions of capacity in country following construction. The company supports over 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. Over 1,500 of Lineage’s 16,000 global employees are based in the UK.
Lineage’s cold storage campuses in the UK complement the Company’s international network of facilities and provides an opportunity to reduce unnecessary miles travelled by food through its location and capacity. These expansions follow Lineage’s recent entrance into the Nordic and Canadian markets and increase overall capacity to 1.9 billion cubic feet and 56 million square feet of capacity across more than 320 facilities in 13 countries, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.