New depot will bring up to 30 jobs (From Daily Echo)

Delivery firm DPD opens new depot in Hedge End

11:18am Tuesday 2nd October 2012 in Eastleigh

EXPRESS parcel delivery firm DPD has invested £2.3m in a new state-of-the-art depot in Hedge End, bringing up to 30 new jobs.

The new facility on the Hamilton business Park will expand DPD’s capacity to respond to a significant increase in Business to consumer deliveries, driven by a take-up of its one-hour time slot service.

A new purpose-built 4,000 square metre depot on a 3.5-acre site will replace DPD’s existing warehouse at Chandler’s Ford.

The relocation gives DPD better links to the motorway and will make it easier for customers to collect parcels.

Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO, said: “The new Southampton depot will improve our access to the M27 and the southern motorway network as well as increasing our capacity to handle the growing volume of parcels we have been experiencing in the area.

“Deliveries on behalf of the e-commerce industry now represent half of our business and we expect this growth in e-retailing to continue to go from strength to strength.

“Successful delivery is a crucial part of the home shopping experience and we are committed to investing in new technology and infrastructure to make sure we continue to be at the forefront of the industry.”

DPD launched its Predict service in March 2010 and has generated more than £50m in new business with a flood of major retailers using it. DPD, which stands for Dynamic Parcel Distribution, is owned by French firm La Poste and delivers more than two million parcels daily across an international network.