DHL Exel Supply Chain has won a £75m, five-year contract with Canon (UK). DHL Exel will manage Canon’s UK logistics operations including;

Matthews Transport has joined the Fortec Pallet Distribution Network, taking responsibility for the Manchester ‘M’ postcode. The company celebrates its 30th anniversary next year.

HFT Forklifts has won a £1.6m contract to supply the forklift fleet for Larchlap, a UK manufacturer of garden fence panels. The 78 vehicle fleet is expected to be operational at Larchlap’s four depots in England, Scotland and Wales by June.

“We are a polluter,” said Ken Hall, vice president of Prologis told delegates. “We recognise that we have a responsibility.” Prologis along with other leading developers, has been developing more environmentally friendly warehouses.

Professor Alan McKinnon, director of Logistics Research at Heriot -Watt University, told delegates that at any given time, there is £460m worth of freight in transit on UK roads.

The government must speed up its plans for introducing road pricing, according to a new report from the CILT (UK). It said it welcomes the government’s commitment to road pricing as being the only effective way to tackle congestion.

On the road and in the warehouse, the pressure is mounting to be more environmentally friendly. Later this year there will be the introduction of a tough new regime for exhaust emissions from trucks with the Euro 4 legislation.

Structural steel costs are predicted to increase by around 8-10 per cent this year, which is likely to lead to an increase in rent levels for new buildings.

ProLogis has signed new lease agreements totalling approximately 900,000 sq ft of space in the United Kingdom.

Pavers Shoes, a York based family-owned business founded in 1971, is set to double in size thanks to the completion of a new £3.5m distribution centre in Upper Poppleton, near York.