DP World’s London Gateway has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle as sole property agents for what will be the largest logistics park development in Europe connected to a new 3.5m TEU deep-sea container port.

Jones Lang LaSalle will provide specialist advice in the property sector to support the delivery of the London Gateway logistics park, which is located east of London on the banks of the Thames, a statement from DP World said.

Tim Johnson, director, national industrial & logistics team, Jones Lang LaSalle, said: “London Gateway has the potential to transform logistics operations in the UK by offering a port-centric logistics solution at the heart of the UK’s largest consumer market.

“The logistics park is a unique proposition offering the potential to provide some of the largest and tallest buildings in Europe. There are 15 million consumers located within 80km of the site and this underpins our view that London Gateway is simply the best location for UK supply chain solutions,” he said.

The project has planning consent for a 9.25 million sq ft, rail connected logistics park, adjacent to the new deep-water port, which is on schedule to open in Q4 2013.

The vast majority of deep-sea imports enter the UK through South East ports yet only 10 per cent of warehousing is in the South East.

London Gateway offers significant supply chain savings for global businesses through reduced transport costs created by having warehousing at the port of entry, closer to key UK consumer markets.

London Gateway offers a quicker, more reliable and greener way to transport goods to their destination compared with existing supply chain models, the statement said.

Analysts have estimated 65 million road freight miles every year will be saved, as many goods will no longer need to be transported from deep-sea ports to inland distribution centres. 

Instead, goods will flow quickly and easily from London Gateway port to the logistics park before distribution directly to shops and homes, it said.

Andrew Gould, UK chief executive, Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "This appointment comes after a huge amount of work over recent years with the London Gateway team planning this extraordinary project and we are really pleased to have an international team working in partnership with DP World advising on delivery. It is a world class project and will be a game-changer for the UK economy" – TradeArabia News Service