PD Ports targets SMEs in its Portcentric Strategy

LONDON, ENGLAND, April 13, 2011 (Press-News.org) PD Ports, a leading proponent of portcentric logistics in the UK, is targeting small and medium sized companies as it continues to expand its range of potential portcentric customers.

Paul Barker, Development Director bulk, ports and logistics, explained the philosophy at his presentation at the Shippers' Voice seminar at this year's Multimodal Exhibition. Mr Barker used the case study of Taylors of Harrogate as an example of how adopting a portcentric strategy - storing goods close to the port of import and distributing locally - works well for both niche players and large retail clients.

He said that both ASDA and Tesco have quickly discovered the benefits of basing their north-east import centres/warehouses at Teesport, but that smaller companies, such as Taylors of Harrogate, have also benefited significantly.

"PD Ports is not just a landlord for companies such as Taylors," explained Mr Barker. "We have adapted warehouses for their specific needs and also run dedicated logisticsservices carrying the tea and coffee from the port to their production facilities at Harrogate."

PD Ports is able to offer the flexibility which growing companies such as Taylors require. "They awarded us a one year trial for 50% of their business, predicting 350 containers in the first year, but we actually handled 465," he said. "The trial was successful and now all Taylors UK inbound volume comes into Teesport as we can provide the cost-effective and environmentally-friendly services they need."

PD Ports operates two 'mirror' warehouses for Taylors so that if there was a problem in one, there would always be a supply of any individual tea or coffee that had been imported and needed for a particular blend.

"We have the experience and expertise to provide whatever the client wants," said Mr Barker. "It's like a Chinese menu - you choose only what you need, and that's the most cost-effective solution."

PD Ports Group, which includes the ports of Teesport and Hartlepool as well as activities at various other UK ports including Hull, Felixstowe and Immingham, offers fast and efficient port handling for containers, breakbulk and bulk, as well as award-winning supply chain services.

About PD Ports:

• PD Ports Limited is owned by Canadian based Brookfield. Brookfield is a global asset manager focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets, with over $100 billion of assets under management. PD Ports was bought by Brookfield in November 2009.
• PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of supply chain services to improve customers' international product and material movements into and out of - as well as within - the UK.

• PD Ports employs over 1200 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of over GBP115 million from many UK locations.

• PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics centres.

• The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:
o Port Operations- is split into two business streams - bulks and unitised and includes:
Teesport: one of the top 4 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk traffics and finished cars, handling almost 40 million tonnes of throughput p.a.
Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service offerings include ships' agency, chartering and stevedoring services.
Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing, recycling and distribution services at UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at Felixstowe.
Development plans for port operations include:
• The Northern Gateway Container Terminal: a major new deep sea container terminal planned at Teesport on the South side of the River Tees. The GBP300+ million development will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and is anticipated to deliver over 5,500 jobs to the Tees Valley, when fully operational. Circa 1,300 of the 5,500 new jobs have already been created through portcentric logistics operations in the past four years.
• Portcentric Logistics: a concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands.
In 2006 ASDA WalMart opened a 360,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 8 million road miles by adopting the portcentric concept. Adjacent to the ASDA facility, Tesco operates a purpose built 1.2 million sq ft import centre at Teesport, which opened in 2009. Tea and coffee specialists Taylors of Harrogate opened a purpose built warehouse facility at Teesport Commerce Park on the periphery of Teesport in 2010 to handle its UK imports.
o Conservancy - this includes:
Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.
o Property- this includes:
Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used by third party clients on long term leases.
Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and offers potential for development.
Port land at Hartlepool docks, which is highly attractive to the growing renewable energy sector, including offshore, windfarms, and biomass plants. PD Ports' long term strategy is to further develop Hartlepool docks as a centre of excellence for the offshore support sector

Please visit http://www.pdports.co.uk
PD Ports contact: Rebecca English,
Interim PR & Communications Manager (Maternity Cover)
01642 877026 or 07423 433 603
news@pdports.co.uk