DELIVERY giant UPS have confirmed they’re to set up base at super port DP World London Gateway in what will be one of their biggest investments outside the United States.

As revealed by the Gazette in August, the firm plan to construct a 32,000 sq meter package sorting and delivery facility.

The project is estimated to cost around £120million and will be one of UPS’s largest infrastructure investments outside of the US in the company’s history.

The facility is expected to be completed in summer of 2017, will act as a UK hub and distribution centre for the local area as well as a key gateway to UPS’s global transportation network. Once completed, the facility will be able to process approximately 30,000 packages per hour, with room for further expansion.

Planning consent for UPS was confirmed within 17 days, one of the quickest ever achieved in the UK for this type of development. This was under the London Gateway Local Development Order which was made in 2013, which effectively gives outline planning permission for the whole of the London Gateway site.

Luis Arriaga, the UPS managing director for UK, Ireland and Nordics, said: “This construction reaffirms UPS’s commitment to the UK and our confidence in its economy.

“It is part of our nearly $2 billion in infrastructure investments across Europe over the next five years. Through these investments, we will continue to do what UPS does best, which is to reliably and efficiently connect our customers of all sizes to destinations all over the world.”

DP World’s Chairman, H.E Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, said: “We congratulate UPS on this strategic development. By using DP World London Gateway Park and Port, UPS will have a fast ‘global conveyor-belt’ directly connected to their own worldwide network.

“UPS’s hub will also provide distribution solutions to other logistics park occupiers. This combination of world class services will be a unique offering for the UK and Europe.”

The leader of Thurrock Council, Councillor John Kent, said: “The fact that UPS is the latest international company to sign up at London Gateway here in Thurrock is yet another signal that this world class facility is exceptionally well-placed for the logistics industry in the south and east of the country.

“This is why Thurrock Council worked so closely with DP World at London Gateway to create the award-winning Local Development Order, enabling companies like UPS to have the certainty and a speedy resolution to their planning proposals.

“The latest confirmation of consent took just 17 days, one of the quickest consents granted for a development of this size and scale.

“This underlines the fact that partnership working is far more than a clichéd sound-bite for Thurrock Council and our colleagues in the private sector as we move forward with our tremendous and wide-ranging growth proposals – Thurrock is open for business.”