Heathrow lands at Doncaster Sheffield Airport in nationwide search for Logistics Hubs

Today, a delegation from Heathrow Airport will visit sites from British Steel in Scunthorpe and Aero Centre Yorkshire, Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s wider 1,600 acre site.

These two sites are in the running to be off-site construction centers for Heathrow expansion.

Yorkshire and the Humber is home to eleven longlisted sites, which will be visited as part of a nationwide tour of 65 sites in the running to be offsite construction centres for Heathrow expansion.

The final four Logistics Hubs will help businesses across the UK form part of the airport’s supply chain, enabling Heathrow’s new runway to deliver a legacy of construction excellence in different locations around the UK.

The Heathrow expansion is set to deliver 11,200 new jobs and £12bn worth of wider economic benefits across Yorkshire and the Humber. The region is also set to benefit from more connections to Heathrow, with HS2 set to provide faster journeys to the UK’s only hub airport.

Ahead of the site visits, representatives from Heathrow will also meet with MPs and local business leaders in Doncaster to discuss the benefits an expanded Heathrow airport would unlock in the region.

Logistics Hubs will see components of the airport be pre-assembled before being transported in consolidated loads to the airport. They will help the Heathrow expansion deliver for the whole country by spreading jobs and boosting productivity outside of London and the South East.

In addition, Logistics Hubs will ensure that 60% of the procurement spend for the Heathrow expansion will be outside of London.

As well as the direct benefits, the latest research from WPI Economics shows that, if adopted more widely, the Logistics Hubs model could spur growth in off-site construction and lead to a productivity boost worth £30bn for the industry outside of London by 2025.

Lord Deighton, chairman at Heathrow Airport, said: “Heathrow expansion is a national infrastructure project that will benefit the whole country, including right across Yorkshire and the Humber, so it is hugely exciting to have a delegation from Heathrow in the region as part of the latest stage of our nationwide tour of potential Logistics Hubs locations.

“Logistics Hubs are instrumental in our aim to ensure that expansion spreads the huge potential of tens of billions of pounds in economic benefits across the UK and will help to transform the construction industry and build a lasting skills legacy for future generations in various locations across the country and beyond London.

“We are working in partnership with local employers, councils and entrepreneurs to support new opportunities for the region arising from Heathrow expansion through new jobs, economic growth and easier and faster journeys to and from Heathrow and Yorkshire and the Humber.”

Steve Gill, CEO from Doncaster Sheffield Airport, added: “We were delighted to welcome the team from Heathrow to Aero Centre Yorkshire to showcase how our site offers a prime location for a Heathrow Logistics Hub.

A hub would fits seamlessly with the Airport’s 20 year Masterplan as part of a much larger 3 million sq ft of logistics, construction and manufacturing cluster to be developed at the airport.

“With dedicated airport road links already in place, and proposals to implement a dedicated airport rail station connecting the East Coast Mainline directly to site, we feel confident that our proposal suits Heathrow’s requirements.

“The economic impact across the Sheffield City Region and surrounding regions would be undeniable, supported by the area’s world-wide expertise in precision engineering and thriving manufacturing supply chain.”