Wilson James, the leading provider of specialist logistics services, has announced that it will open the doors to its new west London Consolidation Centre (WLCC) in Q1 2022. Located at Communication Park in Feltham, close to Heathrow Airport and the M4 corridor, the WLCC is a highly sustainable zero carbon facility that was specifically chosen by Wilson James as part of its strategy to improve sustainability throughout all aspects of its operation, as well as in its customers’ supply chains.
The WLCC represents the next generation of consolidated logistics and builds on the success of Wilson James’ pioneering London Construction Consolidation Centre (LCCC) in Silvertown, which opened in 2005. As the first facility of its kind, the LCCC redefined best practice in construction logistics and has helped facilitate just-in-time deliveries across London. With demand for Wilson James’ services growing, the company decided that opening another location would enable more customers from across the capital and country to benefit from its logistics expertise and improve Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions through a more sustainable supply chain.
‘Sustainability is at the heart of Wilson James’ activities, and we are committed to reducing our impact on the environment, whilst promoting social and economic improvement,’ explained Keith Winterflood, the company’s Managing Director for Construction. ‘We have set an ambitious target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and halving our carbon emissions by 2030 against a 2020 baseline. To do this we are investing in circular economy practices, optimising resource efficiency, monitoring and reducing the consumption of natural resources, and prioritising the procurement of sustainable products and materials.’
As such, when it came to choosing a building for the WLCC, not only did it have to meet specific geographical criteria, it also had to have the best possible environmental credentials. As one of the only industrial developments in the UK designed and built to be carbon neutral, Communication Park has a wealth of cutting-edge features including a solar PV system that produces 212.10kWp and saves 93.37 tonnes of CO2 per year, air source heat pumps, solar powered electric vehicle charging points and sedum roofs that can capture airborne pollutants and CO2.
The introduction of the WLCC will further support our logistics activities across all sectors of the business and reinforce our commitment to our clients to explore and deliver the most sustainable delivery methods, whilst helping to reduce the number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on the roads, minimising congestion, lowering pollution levels and improving air quality. As achieving economic and operational efficiency requires a flexible, reliable and robust supply chain, it will ensure a more reliable programme delivery, reduce the likelihood of inefficient multiple deliveries, lower on-site material and equipment congestion and facilitate reverse logistics. It will also improve supply chain transparency by providing environmental data and reporting to further improve
sustainability efforts.
‘We are both pleased and proud to be able to open the only carbon neutral, secure logistics and consolidation facility in the country,’ concluded Keith Winterflood. ‘Sustainability is positively influencing the supply chain and tenders are increasingly asking for evidence of an organisation’s commitment to this issue. Companies operating across a diverse range of sectors including construction, retail and business-as-usual will now be able to directly address this issue by working with us to ensure that their products, materials and equipment get to where they to be on time, and in the most environmentally friendly way possible’
ENDS
