Global express delivery company UPS is to build a £120 million UK hub and local distribution centre at the DP World London Gateway international logistics centre just outside London.

Due to be opened in 2017, the 30,000 square metre sorting and distribution centre will be able to handle up to 30,000 parcels an hour, with room for expansion as demand requires. It is designed to be a hub for UPS UK business with a distribution centre for parcels heading into central London, 20 miles away.

This is the largest single investment the company has made away from the mainland US, according to the company, and is intended to be a key gateway in the global distribution network of the delivery company.

Luis Arriaga, UPS Ireland, UK and Nordics managing director said of the planned development, “Through these investments, we will continue to do what UPS does best, which is to reliably and efficiently connect our customers of all sizes to destinations all over the world.”

Speaking of UPS move onto the DP World London Gateway logistics park, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said, “By using DP World London Gateway Park and Port, UPS will have a fast ‘global conveyor-belt’ directly connected to their own worldwide network. UPS’s hub will also provide distribution solutions to other logistics park occupiers.”

With the aggressive growth of e-commerce in the UK and Europe, many delivery companies are investing heavily in expansion and preparing for extensive growth in the coming years. UPS will be the third largest international express delivery company in Europe when FedEx takes over TNT, and even so is increasing capacity for projected significant increases in business in the coming years. Building capacity is important so backlogs and logjams don’t impact a parcel delivery business’s relationships with clients.