GXO set for significant expansion in Germany

GXO Logistics has today [8 June] announced plans for a ‘multi-year expansion’ of its logistics operations in Germany, including the acquisition of a new warehouse.

As part of the expansion, the company is investing in a new 387,000ft² warehouse in the German town of Dormagen, between Dusseldorf and Cologne. The warehouse will include a range of energy efficient features as well as technology including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and goods-to-person systems.

The facility is targeting a DGNB Gold Certification for sustainability. This fits in with the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy of the company. GXO has set a number of ESG goals, including being 100% carbon neutral by 2040.

This strategy for growth in Central Europe has been led by Stefan Van Hoof, GXO’s Managing Director for Germany & Eastern Europe. Van Hoof was appointed to this role in October 2022 when GXO completed the acquisition of Clipper Logistics, where he was previously Chief Executive for Mainland Europe.

He said: “I’m looking forward to leveraging GXO’s best-in-class technologies and customer-centricity to shake up the logistics landscape and rapidly grow our operations in Germany.”

Richard Cawston, GXO’s President for Europe, added: “One of the many benefits of our acquisition of Clipper was growing our presence in Germany. We are very excited by the significant growth opportunities in this highly attractive market.”

GXO expects that Germany’s contract logistics market, which it estimates generates US$20 billion in annual revenue, will soon undergo a period of rapid growth “due to the ongoing modernisation of supply chains, acceleration of nearshoring, and increasing demand from companies to outsource to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and deliver a best-in-class consumer experience”.

According to financial results published by GXO for Q1 2023, the company’s revenue grew to $2.3 billion in the quarter, an increase of 12% year-on-year. This document also pointed to another way in which it is intending to grow in the European market, with a rollout of GXO Direct, its shared warehousing solution, expected later in the year. This follows the expansion of GXO Direct in the UK earlier this year.

Source: logisticsmanager.com