Lineage Logistics exhibits the expansive growth of the cold storage market with physical growth of its own, expanding its Heywood Northern Superhub in Manchester. The logistics company claims it is the most advanced cold storage facility in the United Kingdom, alluding to a heavy focus on technology in the newly expanded hub. The facility is also said to consume 75% less energy than the European average.
Per Businesswire:
- The cold storage facility will provide storage for major food manufacturing, service and retail brands, cementing Manchester’s role as a distribution hub for food products in the UK. Following the 12-month expansion, the facility will boast 425,000 sq ft of space and a total of 78,000 pallets across the site on Hareshill Road. This is part of the three-phase expansion of Lineage’s original facility into a Northern Superhub, with prior phases adding 100,000 sq ft of space and 28,000 pallets. The expanded facility became operational during the summer.
- The Heywood site links an innovative single-skin cold store to the traditional ‘box-in-box’ design, ensuring the integrity of the minus 30-degree temperature while maximising the internal area and pallet space capacity.
- To ensure food security, Lineage focused on temperature-controlled loading areas, insulation, fast-closing door seals and the management of construction work alongside the existing operational chamber.
- Lineage is also in the process of expanding its Southern Superhub near London. In total, the company will operate six automated warehouses with a total of 330,000 pallet positions, and the expansions will create more than 220 new jobs in the UK.
“Recent months have seen the importance of the temperature-controlled sector in the economy highlighted and, as the country starts to re-open, we have seen demand rise to higher than pre-COVID levels,” said Tim Moran, Lineage’s Regional Vice President in the UK. “Lineage is continuing to meet customer demands with an ongoing national expansion programme, both nationally and across Europe, and the timely completion of the final phase at Heywood is very welcome.”
