Heathrow Airport delegation set to visit South Yorkshire sites
A delegation from Heathrow Airport will today visit sites from British Steel in Scunthorpe and Aero Centre Yorkshire, Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s wider 1,600 acre site.
Both sites are in the running to be off-site construction centres for Heathrow’s expansion. Yorkshire and the Humber is home to 11 longlisted sites, which will be visited as part of a nationwide tour of 65 sites in the running to be offsite construction centres for Heathrow expansion; more sites than any other region.
The final four Logistics Hubs will help ensure that businesses across the UK will form part of the airport’s supply chain.
Heathrow said that the expansion is set to deliver 11,200 new jobs and £12bn worth of wider economic benefits across Yorkshire and the Humber.
Ahead of the site visits, representatives from Heathrow will also meet with MPs and local business leaders in Doncaster to discuss the benefits an expanded Heathrow airport would unlock in the region.
Heathrow is pioneering Logistics Hubs, where components of the airport will be pre-assembled before being transported in consolidated loads to the airport. The airports says that the hubs will ensure that 60% of the procurement spend for expansion will be outside of London.
Lord Deighton, chairman at Heathrow Airport, said: “Heathrow expansion is a national infrastructure project that will benefit the whole country, including right across Yorkshire and the Humber, so it is hugely exciting to have a delegation from Heathrow in the region as part of the latest stage of our nationwide tour of potential Logistics Hubs locations.
“Logistics Hubs are instrumental in our aim to ensure that expansion spreads the huge potential of tens of billions of pounds in economic benefits across the UK and will help to transform the construction industry and build a lasting skills legacy for future generations in various locations across the country and beyond London.
“We are working in partnership with local employers, councils and entrepreneurs to support new opportunities for the region arising from Heathrow expansion through new jobs, economic growth and easier and faster journeys to and from Heathrow and Yorkshire and the Humber.”
Steve Gill, CEO from Doncaster Sheffield Airport, added: “We were delighted to welcome the team from Heathrow to Aero Centre Yorkshire to showcase how our site offers a prime location for a Heathrow Logistics Hub.
“A hub would fits seamlessly with the Airport’s 20 year Masterplan as part of a much larger 3million sq ft of logistics, construction and manufacturing cluster to be developed at the airport.”
