News

Container specialist and general haulier Wincanton has expanded its container business by opening a new, off-quay container storage and hub facility at Greenham Common, West Berkshire.

The 3PL provider is using the site, a former cruise-missile base and centre of anti-nuclear protest, to provide shipping lines, freight forwarders, retailers and importers with an inland hub located  at the junction of the A34 and M4.

Wincanton says the site will also support the Port of Southampton and provide cost-effective solutions for current and future customers due to its strategic position.

The site is built upon a similar model to Wincanton's Alconbury inland hub. It would create further opportunities to enable East-West support for cargo originating in Felixstowe and the Thames ports, the company says.

Ian Wilson, managing director of Wincanton's container logistics business, says: "We are constantly looking at how we can offer existing and prospective customers ways to increase efficiencies and drive costs down. The new site at Greenham Common is in a prime location for companies looking for alternatives to conventional thinking where containers remain at the port of entry. The site has been well received by many of our current customers who share the vision we have for the future."

As global supply chains extend, the ability to migrate containers  closer to their ultimate destination lessens the risks of container deliveries being affected by future port or road congestion, and other situations out of a customer's control, Wincanton adds.