THE expansion of an international pallet company into the UK has helped secure 70 jobs at its West Thurrock site.

The French-Belgian  PGS Group has opened a facility on the Fiddlers Reach industrial estate off Wouldham Road where it will process second-hand pallets exclusively for pallet rental business La Palette Rouge (LPR), which has been located in Thurrock for two years.

The site is now one of the largest within PGS Group and will process 2.8m pallets each year.

PGS Group CEO Luc Grauwet said: "This new site is a logical next step in our collaboration with LPR. It will give us access to an important market and also to new logistics and operational opportunities that strengthen our European position."

PGS Group CEO Luc Grauwet

PGS currently operates in 13 countries, including France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Portugal, Ukraine, Latvia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Morocco.

Across more than 50 sites, the company employs 1,000 people, produces 25 million new pallets and recovers 20 million recycled pallets a year.

PGS Group boasts its own sawmills and pallet production, delivering sustainability and control over the entire supply chain.

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Covering 16,000 m² and running 24/7, the Grays site is set for further growth, with plans to expand capacity to five million pallets annually.

The facility was originally established two years ago by LPR.

The PGS team will now focus on collecting, identifying and sorting pallets for reuse and export, with those requiring repair treated to the ISPM15 standard. Since Brexit, this international standard has been mandatory for all wooden packaging exported from the UK to Europe.