FOCUS FEATURE


LOGISTICS IN THE EAST MIDLANDS


THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY IS HEADING TOWARDS A GREEN REVOLUTION


Biofuels hold the key to making a breakthrough in decarbonising road transport used in logistics – but there’s a long way to go despite promising signs. That’s the view of Becky Rix, marketing director at


Nottingham-based renewable gas infrastructure supplier Roadgas, which has noticed a significant shift in fleet managers turning away from fossil fuels in favour of greener alternatives to power HGVs. Becky, whose company helped Nottingham City


Transport cut emissions by 84% within two years by switching its buses to biogas, says: “We’ve had an increasing number of logistics and fleet operators making enquiries about using renewable gas in their fleets since the beginning of the year. “The trucks, gas and infrastructure is here now, and


Becky Rix, managing director at Roadgas


Modern warehouses are now equipped with robots “Ultimately, if we don’t have the land supply then


businesses will go elsewhere.” There’s frustration that the Government’s Planning for


the Future white paper, which was published in August 2020 and pledged to streamline the country’s planning system, made no mention of logistics accommodation. Jonathan Dawes, planning director of logistics developer


Tritax Symmetry, says: “Politically, housing is just far higher up the agenda than logistics and employment space. “Local authorities seem to think it’ll look after itself but


we’re working through employment land that’s designated for the next 10 to 12 years within three years. “We need a longer-term strategic approach to identify


the right sites in the best locations.” Nevertheless, the logistics industry continues to push on.


Tritax is working on the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange, a 450-acre scheme off Junction 2 of the M69 that will comprise nine million sq ft of total floor space and have 16 trains running through each day. Planning consent is anticipated by early 2023 and could


create up to 8,000 jobs when it is occupied from late 2025. Rail has a key role to play in the sustainability challenge,


as Midlands Connect estimates one freight train removes the equivalent carbon emitted by 26 HGVs. Development director Alex Reynolds says: “Hinckley is in


a great location and could be a major opportunity for this region to become an inland port. “Alongside the North West, the East Midlands has a


national role in logistics already. The industry is soaking up jobs that have been lost elsewhere in the region, and there’s plenty of benefits if we can step up to the plate and show we can accommodate the projected growth here.”


CHANGING PERCEPTIONS AND CREATING A GREAT PLACE TO WORK


Wellness spaces, wetlands and cycle routes may not be naturally associated with logistics parks, but they’re part of the appeal for workers at Magna Park Lutterworth. There’s also a Starbucks,


restaurants on site, while the current 10,000 employees are encouraged to car share and use public transport. Gwyn Stubbings says: “It’s grown into its own cluster of


54 business network June 2021


business and if you look at the land uptake, it’s comparable to the town of Lutterworth, so we have to think about the types of amenities and recreation you’d get in those types of places. We want to attract new companies to the park and retain those already on site, so we want to make it a pleasant place to work.” It’s just the latest move to change


perceptions about the logistics industry away from dirty warehouse


jobs to modern roles fully immersed in the latest technology. Accountants, operations managers, marketing professionals and IT technicians are just some of the jobs in offices built within the warehouses. The British Property


Foundation’s Delivering the Goods report published in February 2020 found median salaries in logistics was £31,600 – some £6,700 higher than the average – and had


increased from £28,000 in 2014. Alex Reynolds, of Tritax


Symmetry, says: “These are forward-thinking global companies on logistics parks with offices, R&D facilities and warehouses under one roof. “They have very sophisticated


HR, training and skills functions, while they’re increasingly bringing in hi-tech automation that requires the right people to operate it.”


we’re pushing on an open door because fleet operators know they can make huge savings on fuel costs – it’s just a case of getting them to replace their fleets with greener fuels. Average life cycles for trucks are six to seven years, so it can take a little while to see the benefits of the work that’s happening in the industry – but we’re finding fleet operators are increasingly trialling gas trucks, finding they like how capable they are and buying gas trucks whenever the opportunity arises within their fleets.” Her experience is backed up by data, with the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation


reporting a 78% increase in sales of gas as a transport fuel in 2020. The 2040 ban on diesel trucks has led to predictions the UK market size for gas trucks could be 75,000 vehicles by 2030, rising to 160,000 by 2040. With 93% of gas-fuelled HGVs in 2020 using biomethane – a renewable and low-


carbon fuel – according to the Gas Vehicle Network (GVN), the direction of travel is green. Despite these encouraging signs, Becky, who chairs the GVN’s policy and stakeholder committee, admits renewable gas accounts for a tiny proportion of all fuels in HGVs today. “But the key thing is I don’t think there’s any sector in the UK where carbon can be


reduced as quickly as it can from HGVs, which today account for 27% of all transport emissions,” she says. “So if we can even get a fraction of these vehicles using gas as a fuel, the reduction in emissions will be huge.”


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