Splash247: DP World expands UK logistics footprint with GXO transfer

Published by Splash247

DP World has agreed to take over six UK grocery logistics sites from GXO, adding more than 2m sq ft of warehouse space and over 2,000 employees to its British operations.

The five facilities in England and one in Northern Ireland will transfer in September. The sites serve Asda, Sainsbury’s and Co-op, with operations covering ambient, chilled, frozen and bonded storage. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Around 46,000 different products are handled across the network, supplying supermarkets, convenience stores and neighbourhood outlets. GXO will retain transport operations connected with the sites where applicable.

The transfer was required under the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s approval of GXO’s takeover of Wincanton and has been cleared by the regulator.

GXO completed the Wincanton acquisition in April 2024. The CMA later found that combining the two businesses could reduce competition in dedicated warehousing for grocery retailers, where GXO, Wincanton and DHL were the principal outsourced providers. The regulator ordered the disposal of Wincanton’s grocery warehousing operation as a condition of clearance.

Angela Howard, vice president for contract logistics in northern Europe at DP World, said the transfer would broaden the group’s reach in the retail and consumer markets and support its push to connect ports, warehousing and distribution.

The deal expands DP World’s UK business beyond its container terminals at London Gateway and Southampton and strengthens the inland logistics arm of the group’s end-to-end supply chain strategy.

DP World is also developing a new automated grocery distribution centre for Tesco at London Gateway, scheduled to open in 2029. The retailer will use the port’s sea and rail connections to supply its UK store network.