Felixstowe: Multi-use £45m centre to create 500 extra jobs
An artist's impression of the new 47,000sq m Uniserve distribution centre proposed for Clickett HIll at Felixstowe. - Credit: Archant
Developers have submitted formal proposals for a multi-use distribution centre covering 11 acres that will create 500 new jobs close to Britain’s biggest port.
Uniserve Holdings Ltd and landowners Trinity College, Cambridge, hope work on the project – expected to cost more than £45million – at Clicketts Hill, alongside the A14 Port of Felixstowe Road, will start in the spring and open for business next year.
Uniserve said the huge 11.7-acre building – similar in scale to massive warehouses being constructed at Felixstowe port’s newest rival, London Gateway – will meet varying customer demands, processes and services, although no “end users” are yet confirmed.
In a report to Suffolk Coastal council, the company said: “However, it is anticipated, that the facility will include a bottling operation, general merchandise, clothing distribution and e-fulfilment.”
It is expected to create 500 new jobs, including warehouse freight handlers, sorters and packers; forklift drivers and man-up truck operators; supervisors, team shift leaders, administrators; customer liaison, sales staff, accounts and managers; HR advisors; IT and warehouse management systems staff; HGV drivers and security officers.
Uniserve said: “Assuming that a large proportion of the jobs created are taken up by local people, the job increase will make a notable impression in the existing unemployment rate both in Felixstowe and the wider Suffolk Coastal district area.”
Trimley St Mary Parish Council has given its support to the project on the 26-acre site, but has expressed some concerns over potential light pollution to nearby properties.
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The centre will have direct links to the port, allowing a port-centric operation – a “one-stop shop” for importing, repacking and distributing goods specifically to their destination.
