Bosses at Britain’s biggest container port have announced the development of a huge new 68-acre project to provide much-needed warehousing space to compete with its rivals.

East Anglian Daily Times: A computer-generated image of how the new 68-acre logistics park at the Port of Felixstowe will look when it is complete.A computer-generated image of how the new 68-acre logistics park at the Port of Felixstowe will look when it is complete. (Image: Copyright www.mike-page.co.uk)

The scheme will see the creation of 1.45 million sq ft of warehousing, tailored to the needs of customers.

A full marketing campaign is already under way and talks are taking place with a nunber of interested parties.

The distribution centre will be built inside the 700-acre port complex with the first phase using the space left by the closure and demolition in recent years of the old Tank Farm bulk liquids storage centre and the Calor Gas liquid propane gas installation.

The second phase will involve demolition of Sheds 13, 14 and 82 and clearance of Sub Station Road and Road Hauliers Road, an area where leases expire in 2016, down to Trelawny House.

Newest rival London Gateway is proud of its enormous logistics park and the port, landowners Trinity College, Cambridge, and Suffolk Coastal officials have been working hard to identify opportunities for Felixstowe to increase its land for distribution warehousing.

Earlier this year Uniserve was granted consent for an 11-acre warehouse on Clickett Hill.

Clemence Cheng, chief executive officer at the port, said: “The new site that we are launching today has the key advantage of being located within the port’s perimeter. It is less than 100 metres from Berths 8 and 9 where we handle the world’s largest container ships, and only 500 metres from Trinity terminal.

“We expect huge interest in this site. The ability to create a purpose-built warehouse at the UK’s largest container port with all the advantages that brings is an exciting prospect for importers, retailers and third-party logistics providers.”