ESPRIT Warehousing & Docks Ltd are continuing to invest in growth, with the opening of two additional large warehouses on a new site in Trafford Park, Manchester.
No.1 Trafford Park provides Esprit with an additional 62,000sqft of capacity for ambient food grade and non-food grade products, bulk or palletised.
Managing Director Graham Dixon said the consistent strong demand for space at their nearby Trafford Docks site, which opened in 2015 and has been full for the last 18 months, led to the search for an additional site.
“Economically viable sites, large enough for commercial warehousing in and around Manchester are scarce. It took us several months to find this site which has been completely refurbished to an exceptionally high standard. The location, only 1 minute from our Docks site on the Manchester Ship Canal and 2 minutes from the motorway, is perfect. Our existing customers can expand with us without feeling their goods are in two different locations, plus inbound or outbound goods via the ship canal can be stored at either site” says Graham.
Esprit have invested £¼m in the new site to ensure they can cater for both bulk and palletised goods. “Flexibility is the key” says Graham “it’s a big decision investing a significant sum into the site before we have confirmed storage contracts. However, customers don’t want to wait 3-4 months for us to install grain walls & bring in machinery to handle their goods. Demand tends to be almost immediate. We have to be prepared and able to show we have a 1st class storage solution ready. Having 2 warehouses on the same site allows us this flexibility, one ready for bulk goods and the other ready for palletised goods.”
Esprit Warehousing & Docks, part of the Esprit Trading Group, continues to push for more businesses to consider using the Ship Canal for moving freight. “Since reopening Trafford Docks in 2015 we’ve seen some large project cargo from Europe and beyond using our berth for unloading & onward transport. A lot more can be done though, this is an amazing asset for Manchester and the UK, allowing us to take thousands of trucks and vans off the roads by moving freight on the canal” says Graham. Yet uptake is disappointingly slow. “Businesses and leaders still default to road transport when planning. Waste, building materials and many other goods, often including parcels, tend not to be time sensitive, are bulky and therefore ideal candidates for canal freight. Ships are probably more reliable than trucks. In four years, I’ve never had a vessel delayed due to congestion. They arrive on time, every time.”
