Port of SheernessUK port operator Peel Ports has created 9.3 hectares of additional space for vehicle storage on the formerly derelict Thamesteel site at Sheerness in the UK, about 50 miles east of London.

Part of the company’s London Medway group of ports, Sheerness currently serves the VW Group, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Ford, as well as logistics providers Gefco and the IM Group.

The vehicle storage expansion is part of a £27m ($34.6m) first stage of growth planned by the port operator, which has also increased warehousing capacity by 30,000 sq.m at Sheerness.

Andrew Hunter, sales manager at Peel Ports London Medway, said: “The reconfigured warehouse space has created a hub for storage and distribution of sensitive cargo and represents our dedication to helping businesses establish a base for growth.”

After starting work in Sheerness in 2015, Peel Ports intends to develop its facilities there to strengthen support for automotive, bulk timber and other sectors. Its plans include transforming the site of the former steelworks into flexible storage and purpose-built logistics facilities.

Ports in the UK are looking for space to develop for automotive storage to serve buoyant export and import levels and to address the risk of longer dwell times if customs procedures are slowed in the wake of Brexit.

For further details of vehicle handling activity at the terminals in Europe, see our annual ports survey in the next edition of Finished Vehicle Logistics magazine, published at the beginning of April.