Supplying many of the major shipping companies based at the Port of Southampton, we’re delighted to see them working flat out! It’s clear that the demand for the contract hire of forklifts, particularly those at the heavier end of the materials handling spectrum, is as healthy today as it has been in a long time.

[columnize]Of course there have been some great initiatives, such as the joint initiative to improve connectivity between Southampton and the Isle of Wight, to help unlock the potential on both sides of the Solent.

There’s also been fantastic investment by the owners, ABP, which is clearly paying off, as shown in the latest statistics from consultants Arup which puts the contribution to the UK economy at £990 million every year, including £714 million for the Solent region.

For our part, we have seen volume expanding greatly with our POS customers. We’ve been around long enough to have worked with the likes of Bacardi-Martini’s and nearby British American Tobacco manufacturing plants, both sadly disappeared, which were as vital to the Southampton economy as the likes of GE Aviation and Fareham’s TUVPS are today. Their loss left gaps that took some time to be filled.

Today, there are certainly no longer the empty warehouses or spaces available that there once may have been. That makes storage density, picking and the correct utilisation of space and materials more important than ever, and perhaps accounts for our recent success in supplying racking, storage, imspections, forklift rental and other related services.

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Port of Southampton facts:

  • The Port of Southampton is the fourth largest port in the UK and the leading port for car handling, with the latest figures showing the port handled 745,000 vehicles last year, two thirds of which were for export.
  • It is Europe’s most efficient container port, and handled 26 million tonnes of commodities in 2013.
  • Southampton is one of 21 UK ports owned by ABP. Nationally, the company contributed £5.6 billion to the UK economy in 2012 and a quarter of UK seaborne trade passes through its statutory harbour areas.
  • ABP plans to invest £837 million of capital and operational investment over the next five years, which will add an extra £1.7 billion to the UK economy every year.
  • The South Coast Marine Secot is said to be worth £3.6 billion, supporting more than 48,000 jobs and over 3,000 businesses