Moog moves in to i54

AEROSPACE giant Moog has become the first company to take up residence at the high profile i54 business park in South Staffordshire.

The company has relocated from its former premises in Penderford and has been busy migrating staff and equipment into the new state-of-the-art 210,000 sq ft facility, developed by Stoford.

Moog will shortly be joined by food testing company Eurofins, whose neighbouring building is nearing completion.

The i54 site has gained great significance to the West Midlands economy during the last six months after Jaguar Land Rover announced it would be building its new £355m engine plant at the site. Work on the new factory is under way and should be complete next year.

Toy retailer opens new distribution base in Staffordshire

TOYS retailer Smyths Toys has taken possession of one of the region’s largest remaining vacant new-build logistics centres.

The company has set up the 415,000 sq ft Alto 415 unit in Newcastle under Lyme as a new distribution centre. The move supports the company’s ambitious expansion programme.

Smyths Toys is a leading provider of children’s entertainment products with 57 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, 36 of which are in the UK.

The firm has a number of stores in the West Midlands and is set to open a new outlet at Phoenix Retail Park in Longton in May.

Unilver expands Cannock depot to include homecare products

UNILEVER has expanded its Cannock warehouse to include an entire homecare range. The centre, which opened in 2005, had previously been used solely for distribution of the ambient foods.

However a 21-month project to extend the building and automate the high bay warehouse has resulted in 75 new jobs and the expanded distribution operation.

Unilever’s Homecare products include Persil, Domestos, Comfort and Surf, while the Ambient Foods lines include Marmite, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Colman’s Mustard, Pot Noodle and PG Tips.

DHL Supply Chain manages the site for Unilever.

Graham Inglis, DHL Supply Chain’s chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “Having operated the Cannock operation since 2005, we were always mindful of the site’s potential to accommodate more capacity and it’s exciting to see this come to fruition.”