Tilbury Logistics Terminal (TLT) is taking over one of Tilbury’s largest distribution warehouses in the first of a series of “port centric” terminal openings it is planning across the UK.

TLT, set up by Richard Newbold and ex-Finnforest manager Mike Brown, has invested a significant sum in moving from its current facility at 46Berth to a new 10-acre site on Fortress Distribution Park.
The move could see its warehouse capacity increase 10-fold.

TLT is currently moving stock over to the new site in a phased takeover of the new premises, which feature a four-acre shed and six acres of hard-standing. In the future it hopes to offer an enhanced remote transit shed service for customs clearance and de-vanning uncleared containers. TLT partner Richard Newbold told TTJ that the company was also investigating possibilities of setting up identical services at other major UK container ports in the future.

“We have seen the growth and demand for port centric operations become so great that we knew we had to take the opportunity to expand our offering,” he said.

Mr Newbold said the expansion was designed to service the increasing trend of traders wanting to stock less product and control supply chain costs and deliveries. “Timber yards are not generally selling as much as they used to with the housing market the way it is and they might want to order just one or two packs rather than a full load, which is something we can facilitate.”

TLT expects to quadruple its existing 80-containers-a-week throughput within the next 6-12 months. Partnerships with pallet distributor Pall-Ex and Mr Newbold’s other companies – haulage exchange website www.returnloads.net and haulage company Triple A Transport Services – have also been set up for onward delivery of de-vanned products.

The company’s existing clients include Finnforest, the Compass Group and Forest Boards.

Forest products make up 70% of TLT’s product handling, of which about 50% is panels.