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Express parcels carrier APC Overnight has started looking in London for the first of a series of regional distribution centres.

The search for a site of up to 60,000sq ft is part of a move to "reduce the number of miles a parcel travels," managing director Quentin Abel said at a press event last week.

"Our growth strategy is mini hubs," Abel told Motor Transport.

The company is actively looking at depots in north-west London. Two sites in the capital were originally  discussed, says director of communications Vince Friery, but "a lot of the sustainability will depend on the first premises".

Two other areas that would benefit from RDCs have been identified as the "M62 corridor, near the Leeds area, and the South-west," says Friery. London will have the first of the new RDCs, "in the next 12 months," he adds, with the second near the M62 anticipated within the next two to three years. The company aims to replicate the model it already uses in Scotland, which has an RDC in Belshill.

The plans were revealed as APC announced a £3m investment in its new branding, eight new trailers and signature capture technology.