A CONSTRUCTION transport company is to consolidate its business at the Port of Tilbury – a move that could take hundreds of truck movements off regional roads.

Wilson James has announced it has expanded its warehousing and consolidation capacity into the port, augmenting the company's existing London Construction Consolidation Centre (LCCC) in East London.

In 2005, Wilson James created the centre, which was the first facility of its kind, and continues to be ideally located for projects across London and also provides space for contractors to build mock-ups, create quality samples and carry out off-site fabrication.

As part of its expansion the company assessed available options and decided that the Port of Tilbury offered the most suitable opportunities to grow.

"Put simply, the Port of Tilbury ticked all the boxes," explained Keith Winterflood, operations director at Wilson James. "As well as being strategically located and boasting state-of-the-art facilities, it makes importation of overseas goods easier for us. Just as importantly, in addition to the excellent transportation links by road and rail, we can improve sustainability across our operation through the use of barges on the River Thames and other waterways.

"50 lorry loads of equipment can fit on one barge and it also gives us the ability to transport large and heavy deliveries, which are normally challenging to accommodate on London roads. When it's not possible to use the waterways, the Port of Tilbury's proximity to the M25 allows goods to be dropped off without coming into London, which we can then transport using our fleet of electric and fuel efficient vehicles."

The Port of Tilbury's commercial manager, Alison Hall, commented: "We are very pleased that Wilson James has chosen the Port of Tilbury as the location for its latest consolidation centre.

Our unique combination of transportation links will help Wilson James remove complexity in the supply chain and reduce journey miles, thereby creating a sustainable way to ensure that material and equipment gets to where it needs to be, on time.

"This is an exciting time for the port as we continue to invest in our infrastructure and open our new port extension Tilbury2 which will home one of the largest construction material terminals in the UK.

"We look forward to working with Wilson James to provide joint solutions for construction projects and support to its existing supply chains that are keen to gain from the sustainable benefit the port can offer with our unrivalled train, road and sea connections."