Panic wins over local councillors
Page 13
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Steve McQueen • Demonstrations by hundreds of haulage workers faced with loss of their jobs convinced a meeting of local councillors last week not to throw out approved plans for a new sorting depot.
The demonstration by employees of parcel carrier Panic Link followed chairman Eric Norman's threats to close the company's Lount hub in Leicestershire if the plans for a new site were not approved.
Had Panic Link carried out its threat, 170 drivers and 120 warehouse workers in the Lount area would have lost their jobs.
The new UK and international hub will handle 14,700 packages per hour, and feed these through its UK network which operates a further 500 vehicles.
Plans for the new hub, also at Lount, were originally approved last month but several councillors in support of a local residents' pressure group forced a review before the full council last Thursday (12 January). Objections were raised on environmental grounds and ownership of an alternative site gave strength to the company's threat to pull out.
"It was a victory for northwest Leicestershire an opportunity to save nearly 300 jobs, create 300 new ones and maintain £12 million in the local economy," says Norman.
He confirms that the new hub was required as a result of new UK and international business secured at the end of last year. Its European traffic is operated in co-operation with Airborn Express. Work in the hub has started and it is expected to open on 20 August this year.