ABP GAT BRITCON

Associated British Ports (ABP) has appointed Britcon to carry out the next phase of development at its Grimsby Automotive Terminal on England’s east coast.

The civil engineering and building company carried out phase 1a of the expansion, which has provided a 4.05-hectare vehicle import/export storage site. Phase 1b involves development of 3.44 hectares. Terms in the contract include Britcon providing perimeter security fencing and LED lighting on 30-metre high masts.

ABP Humber director, Simon Bird, said: “This is a fantastic development for the Port of Grimsby and we’re happy to be working with Britcon to drive this project forward. We look forward to being able to offer an extra 8.5 acres to our automotive customers in this new facility.”

The automotive terminal is being built on the site of a chemical plant, which produced titanium dioxide from the 1940s until 2009. When ABP first announced the development in 2017, it said the terminal would be developed in stages with storage capacity for up to 15,200 vehicles.

Last April ABP applied for permission to expand its Grimsby River Terminal to handle the world’s largest car carriers, containing almost 9,000 vehicles.

A month earlier Kia Motors of South Korea had announced it would create capacity for 8,000 more cars at its UK import and distribution centre in Stallingborough, near Grimsby’s sister port of Immingham.