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Chief Operating Officer’s Report
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Chief Operating Officer’s Report
Eddie Stobart International
Our International division combines storage and transport
facilities at Lokeren in Belgium and Dublin, with offices and
depots in Warrington. This long-established division serves
Continental Europe with a dedicated fleet and a range of
specialised trailers including walking floor and double decked,
multi-temperature, compartmentalised trailers.
Eddie Stobart Ireland
Operations have grown strongly in the Republic of Ireland,
leading to the establishment of a substantial stand-alone
division, operated by a team with extensive experience and
knowledge of the unique Irish market. Eddie Stobart Ireland
has its own offices and depot located at the Port of Dublin,
including warehousing and cross-docking. The Irish operation
also maintains close links with International and the Group’s
wider logistics operations; benefitting from their own
extensive networks of sites and transport capacity.
Eddie Stobart Chilled
The Chilled Distribution business delivers temperature-
controlled logistics solutions, tailored to match the needs of
major FMCG manufacturing and retail customers. The
division handles tens of thousands of pallets each week
through its cross-docking facilities located at Heywood,
Nottingham, Newark, Alcester, Widnes and Corby. The cross-
dock load reception, picking and dispatch operation is
supported by around 250 of the latest high-specification,
dual-compartment, multi-temperature articulated units.
Eddie Stobart Warehousing
Eddie Stobart’s Warehousing division operates over six million
square feet of high quality, state-of-the-art storage facilities,
strategically located around major transport hubs across the
UK and beyond into Continental Europe. Utilised by many of
the leading names in UK retail and manufacturing, capacity
encompasses the full range of chilled, ambient and specialist
storage requirements. Facilities are formatted in a variety of
racked, stacked and mixed layouts, and are available to
customers on highly flexible terms as single, shared and multi
user formats.
Warehousing is controlled using the Group’s own fully-
trackable Dynamic Warehouse Management System (DWMS).
The industry-leading system which encompasses the entire
storage network utilises barcode-tracking to give clients real-
time access to detailed stock data through a variety of web,
email and direct communication systems.
Each facility is operated 24/7 by a comprehensive team of
highly experienced, fully trained personnel, backed-up by
permanently manned security and secure on-site vehicle and
trailer parking.
Stobart Ports
Our ports business represents the container transport,
handling and port operations arm of the Group, including the
Mersey Multimodal Gateway (3MG). This major inland port
operated by the Group at Widnes has direct rail access to the
West Coast Mainline.
This site is also being developed as a major distribution hub.
Phase 1, a 500,000 square feet chilled distribution centre
for Tesco, was completed in 2009, there are a further 95
acres yet to be developed. Nearby, we are also developing
the Mersey Gateway Port at the junction of the Manchester
Ship Canal and River Mersey. Both sites benefit from
excellent road transport links via the M6, M62 and M56
and the soon-to-be-constructed Mersey Gateway Bridge.
Stobart Ports has recently signed a three year agreement with
Freightliner to receive trains from Felixstowe, Tilbury and
Southampton and now services four Felixstowe trains, one
from Tilbury and another from Southampton each day.
Stobart Ports has its own fleet for container transport,
which has recently been increased seventy-five vehicles,
supported by a modernised trailer fleet of eighty new SDV
sliding skeletal trailers.
Stobart Biomass
In March 2010, Stobart Group entered into a joint venture
with AW Jenkinson, a leading supplier of biomass fuels in the
UK. The new joint venture, Stobart Biomass Products Limited,
sources sustainable biomass for the new generation of
minimum-carbon power plants.
Transport and logistics represent the most significant element
of the project. When coupled with the fact that importation
of biomass is already on the increase, it is clear there are
significant benefits and synergies with the Group’s own
transport and distribution operations. Biomass contracts tend
to be long-term, typically 10 to 20 years, allowing for the
efficient planning of transport assets.
In July 2010, Stobart Biomass acquired certain parts of the
business and assets of Sussex-based Amenity Horticultural
Services Limited (AHS), a leading UK manufacturer and
supplier of woodchip biomass fuel to commercial and
domestic users. The acquisition brought the management
and execution of all existing AHS supply contracts to Stobart
Biomass and instantly gave the business a leading position
in this rapidly growing market. Contracts are already in place
for the supply of over 150,000 tonnes per year of biomass
supply to the renewable energy market.
Following the recent fund raising and restructuring
programme, Stobart Group has acquired the remaining 50%
of the Stobart Biomass business from AW Jenkinson.
Stobart Rail
Rail Freight
First launched in 2006, Stobart Rail’s dedicated rail freight
services represent an innovative solution to reducing carbon
emissions. The trains, which provide an attractive regular
high volume, long distance freight transport solution, utilise
specially commissioned containers that are packed at the
customer site before being transported to the railhead on
Stobart skeletal trailers. Here the containers are transferred
onto rail for transport to their destination.