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TNT Express says 2007 will be a year in which it expands and upgrades its depot network including finding a strategic new location in the East of England. The company is in the final throes of an 18-month expansion programme costing £100m, but £48m of that is to rebuild and extend the Primark facility after a fire. Between 800 and 2,000 jobs are also being created as a result of the investment, says a company spokesman. TNT Express is planning a new depot in Swansea in the second quarter of 2007  at a cost of £3m and moving its Belfast depot "airside" in the third quarter will cost £6m. Extending the Durham depot will cost £1.5m. A key development will be opening a new depot in the East of England, possibly around Cambridge. TNT Express is also looking for an alternative to its present site at Heathrow and is planning to upgrade its Shannon Airport depot at a cost of more than £1m.

A new depot at Liverpool is set to become fully operational by March. In 2006 the expansion plan included creating 240 new jobs at its new customer help centre in Gateshead. New depots were opened in Preston and Glasgow and in the Midlands, TNT opened a 65,000sq m warehouse for high street clothing retailer Primark, eight months after a blaze devastated the previous facility in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. The new clothing distribution centre is expected to create up to 250 jobs. TNT Express managing director Tom Bell says: "This is further evidence of our determination to maintain and build  on our share of the express delivery market in the UK and Ireland. You cannot stand still in this industry, it simply isn't an option. Consolidation is a luxury that nobody can afford."