Foulger Transport perseveres with ground-breaking consolidation centre
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FOULGER TRANSPORT says it will continue running its consolidation centre aimed at reducing congestion and emissions in Norwich despite poor take-up from retailers struggling in the economic climate.
The Norfolk haulier has been operating the freight consolidation centre, branded Portal Norwich, in Snetterton for the past four years but it has struggled to convince potential customers to change their delivery routines.
There are three retailers using Portal Norwich for their deliveries, but the company says it could handle “10 times” more.
It says the recession, poor high street sales and the bad winter have all conspired to put off retailers from using the centre, even though the haulier has exclusive use of a bus lane in the city to speed up delivery times.
Selling the concept has been made even more dificult after European Commission funding worth up to £5,500 a month expired in March last year.
But Foulger group operations manager Simon Lee says: “We are very pleased about where we are.
“We have increased our leet by 15% since the start of the recession. Portal Norwich is a small part of our overall business; we are doing well in tough economic times. We would love to see it increase; we can easily cope with 10 times the volume.”