Heathrow Visits British Steel And Doncaster Sheffield Airport In Nationwide Search For Expansion Logistics Hubs

8th May 2018

Heathrow representatives visit sites from British Steel and Doncaster Sheffield Airport in hunt for final four Logistics Hubs Yorkshire and the Humber is home to eleven longlisted sites in the running to become Heathrow Logistics Hubs, more than any other region Successful Logistics Hubs will participate in off-site construction of Britain's new runway spreading economic benefits across the UK Heathrow expansion is set to create up to 11,200 new jobs and generate up to £12 billion of economic benefits across Yorkshire and the Humber Today, a delegation from Heathrow Airport will visit sites from British Steel in Scunthorpe and Aero Centre Yorkshire, Doncaster Sheffield Airport's wider 1,600 acre site, which are in the running to be off-site construction centers for Heathrow expansion.

Yorkshire and the Humber is home to eleven longlisted sites, which will be visited as part of a nationwide tour of 65 sites in the running to be offsite construction centres for Heathrow expansion, more sites than any other region. The final four Logistics Hubs will help ensure that businesses across the UK will form part of the airport's supply chain, enabling Heathrow's new runway to deliver a legacy of construction excellence in different locations around the UK. Heathrow expansion is set to deliver 11,200 new jobs and £12 billion worth of wider economic benefits across Yorkshire and the Humber. The region is also set to benefit from more connections to Heathrow, with HS2 set to provide faster journeys to the UK's only hub airport. The nationwide tour of the longlisted Logistics Hub sites is another milestone in the delivery of Heathrow expansion, ahead of an expected Parliamentary vote on the policy framework in the first half of this year. Ahead of the site visits, representatives from Heathrow will also meet with MPs and local business leaders in Doncaster to discuss the benefits an expanded Heathrow airport would unlock in the region. Heathrow is pioneering Logistics Hubs, where components of the airport will be pre-assembled before being transported in consolidated loads to the airport. Logistics Hubs are essential in ensuring Heathrow expansion delivers for the whole country by spreading jobs, boosting productivity and modernising the construction industry outside of London and the South East. They will ensure that 60% of the procurement spend for expansion will be outside of London, spreading the benefits of local investment up and down the country. As well as the direct benefits, the latest research from WPI Economics shows that, if adopted more widely, the Logistics Hubs model could spur growth in off-site construction and lead to a productivity boost worth £30 billion for the industry outside of London by 2025. Heathrow's Logistics hubs feature in the Government's Industrial Strategy, listed as an example of how to develop skills across the UK and create conditions where successful businesses can emerge. Heathrow has also begun working with other major infrastructure companies to explore how the final sites could be used for future projects. Lord Deighton, Chairman at Heathrow Airport, said: -Heathrow expansion is a national infrastructure project that will benefit the whole country, including right across Yorkshire and the Humber, so it is hugely exciting to have a delegation from Heathrow in the region as part of the latest stage of our nationwide tour of potential Logistics Hubs locations. -Logistics Hubs are instrumental in our aim to ensure that expansion spreads the huge potential of tens of billions of pounds in economic benefits across the UK and will help to transform the construction industry and build a lasting skills legacy for future generations in various locations across the country and beyond London. -We are working in partnership with local employers, councils and entrepreneurs to support new opportunities for the region arising from Heathrow expansion through new jobs, economic growth and easier and faster journeys to and from Heathrow and Yorkshire and the Humber. Steve Gill, CEO from Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: "We were delighted to welcome the team from Heathrow to Aero Centre Yorkshire to showcase how our site offers a prime location for a Heathrow Logistics Hub. A hub would fits seamlessly with the Airport's 20 year Masterplan as part of a much larger 3million sq ft of logistics, construction and manufacturing cluster to be developed at the airport. With dedicated airport road links already in place, and proposals to implement a dedicated airport rail station connecting the East Coast Mainline directly to site, we feel confident that our proposal suits Heathrow's requirements. The economic impact across the Sheffield City Region and surrounding regions would be undeniable, supported by the area's world-wide expertise in precision engineering and thriving manufacturing supply chain."