Walsh Western invests €2.5m in UK premises

Irish logistics company Walsh Western International has invested €2.5m in a new premises in Coventry in England to cater for a 40% business volume growth in the first two quarters of 2004.

WWI opened a 52,000 sq ft site in Red Lane in Coventry in June at a cost of €1.5m to accommodate the reverse logistics operations for clients such as Dell, Sony, PC World and Epson, as well as other high-tech and healthcare technology companies.

Due to major growth an additional €1m has been invested to add a 100,000 sq ft extension to the existing site bringing the total investment to €2.5m and total size to 150,000 sq ft.

WWI, whose headquarters are in Dublin Airport, already has two existing sites in Coventry and invested €15m in a new site in Tilburg in the Netherlands in May this year.

WWI's new Coventry operation is taking on 50 new staff in logistics and administrative support roles within the warehouse to help the company handle expected customer expansion and support its ambitious plans for growth. This brings the total staff in Coventry to 200.

Phil Cocking, Managing Director of WWI's UK operations, said: "Coventry is a great location with good connections, which allows us to service businesses throughout the whole of the UK.

"The UK is a key strategic growth market for WWI which has grown by 40% in the first two quarters of this year.

"The extension on the site in Coventry will result in a considerable improvement in our capacity, provide us with a solid base from which we will be able to significantly enhance the services we can offer our existing customers and expand our customer base."