New DHL e-commerce hub in Coventry to create up to 600 jobs
Logistics firm DHL has announced a new state-of-the-art e-commerce hub will create up to 600 jobs. The new hub, which is located near to Coventry Airport, will be opened by the Department for Business and Trade minister Justin Madders on Thursday. The facility can handle up to a million parcels a day and is part of a wider £482m investment in the UK, the German firm said.It added that the hub would help to "speed up delivery times" for UK consumers, and said the investment was "a major win" for Coventry's economy.
Speaking ahead of the official opening, Madders said: "The West Midlands is a powerhouse for investment and this state-of-the-art hub will not only create hundreds of local jobs but give a major boost to our logistics sector."He added that investment from DHL was "the latest vote of confidence" in the government's commitment to "delivering economic growth and raising living standards".The CEO of DHL e-commerce UK, Stuart Hill, said the expansion would enable the firm to meet growing demand. "By increasing our capacity with a state-of-the-art operation, we're creating long-term jobs, growth opportunities for our customers and a blueprint for more sustainable logistics."Mr Hill added that the site had also "minimised" its environmental impact through the inclusion of EV charging points, solar panels and LED lighting. "This preserves the area's natural biodiversity supporting the government's ambitions to make the UK a clean energy superpower", he said.
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ministers admit they spent £35,580 - more than a nurse or teacher's annual pay - on thousands of BEER MATS in pubs to boast about minimum wage going up
Labour ministers have admitted they spent £35,580 - which is more than a nurse or teacher's starting salary - on beer mats in pubs. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) revealed the sum was spent on printing the drink coasters as part of an awareness campaign. Some 500,000 beer mats were distributed to 1,000 pubs across the country to help ensure workers were aware of this year's increase to the national minimum wage. Those who used or saw the beer mats were urged to 'make sure you're getting paid correctly' by visiting the website. Justin Madders, the minister for employment rights, said the distribution of beer mats was 'a unique opportunity to engage audiences in a social, high-dwell environment'. He described pubs as places 'where financial conversations naturally occur', adding: 'This setting encourages discussion and word-of-mouth sharing about rate changes.' According to the Government's National Careers Service website, the salary of a nurse at the beginning of her career is £31,000. And a newly-qualified secondary school teacher can expect to earn £32,000 a year. Mr Madders revealed the spending on beer mats in reply to a written parliamentary question by Tory MP Richard Holden, the shadow paymaster general. He said this year's campaign to advertise higher rates of the national minimum wage and national living wage was budgeted to cost up to £650,000 in total. 'The cost to advertise in pubs using beer mats was £35,580, which was approved at official level,' Mr Madders added. 'The 2024 campaign saw an increase in reach to eligible workers. 'However, recognition remained low, reinforcing the need for bolder, more engaging formats for the 2025 campaign, which expected to deliver an estimated 3.2 million impressions.' In April, the national living wage for those aged 21 and over rose from £11.44 per hour to £12.21 per hour. Meanwhile, the national minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds was increased from £8.60 to £10 per hour. But, despite the boost to pay packets, experts warned working age households are on track to be £400 worse off on average in this tax year. The Resolution Foundation said households were facing a 'triple hit' from the impacts of tax, higher bills, and benefits that are not keeping pace with the cost of living. Long-running freezes to personal tax thresholds will mean some people are dragged into paying more tax. And Labour's hike to employer national insurance will feed through to households through slower wage growth as employers recoup costs, the think tank said. The hospitality industry - including pub bosses - issued dire warnings about the impact of the national insurance hike when it was announced at October's Budget. They expressed fears about a 'double whammy' increase to costs, due to the rise in the national minimum wage coming in at the same time.
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
Inside UK's new £189,000,000 revolutionary ‘very light' transport system
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The motor capital of the UK has received a transport makeover – and it's already going to be expanded. Coventry has spearheaded the Very Light Rail network, which has been described as being like a tram, but better. The vehicles, which can carry 60 passengers, are cheaper and more flexible than traditional railways, and passengers started using the vehicles last month. But it's now been announced that the project, currently in use on two streets in the city centre, is set to be expanded to six new areas. The Department for Transport has released £12million to expand the project into 'growth areas' across the city, including the Coventry Gigafactory at Coventry Airport. Speaking to CoventryLive, Cllr Jim O'Boyle said: 'Coventry passengers deserve a choice of how they travel around our city. 'Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, all of those have choice, so we should have that choice as well.' The transport system, currently in place along Queen Victoria Road and Greyfriars Road, could also expand to Coventry Railway Station, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, Antsy Park, the University of Warwick, and Coventry University. The expansion should be completed by the end of next year, and it's hoped this will bring new jobs to the city centre. Local father and son Graham and Joe Dibbins are train drivers at RailAdventure UK and were among the first to drive the new vehicles. Graham said: 'It's an extraordinary feeling to be involved in such an innovative project and at the same time to be working with my son for the first time in a professional capacity as train drivers.' Joe added: 'It seems unbelievable that I am working with the one person I respect more than anyone else – my dad. The fact that Coventry Very Light Rail is so technologically advanced is simply the icing on the cake.' Cllr O'Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change at the city council, said the 'green' CVLR system will 'revolutionise transport in Coventry.' He said: 'Very Light Rail is just the beginning of our plans to revolutionise transport in our city, tackle climate change, improve air quality, and provide a reliable and accessible travel option.' The cost of construction is the first thing that sets it apart from traditional trams. The estimated cost per kilometre (0.6 miles) is £10million, compared to £30million for the same distance for tram tracks. The new track sits just under 11 inches (30cm) within the road surface, minimising expensive and time-consuming works to relocate pipes and cables. The VLR system is powered by batteries, meaning that, unlike trams, there is no need for overhead wires. The electric, very light rail system has been touted as a way to bring disused railway lines back into action. There are no definite plans to build ultra-light rail systems in London, but TfL and the London Assembly have discussed and reviewed the option over the years. Major rail operators are said to have shown interest in the very light rail systems, and further trials are planned to start in 2026. In London, the closest to the new train system is the tram network, which still runs across the southern boroughs. The history of London trams goes back to more than 200 years, but there were times it almost disappeared for good. The very light rail bears some similarity to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), a driverless train operating in London since the 1980s on a 24-mile track. DLR is a light metro train, which uses purpose-built tracks, which run mostly outdoors, connecting Canary Wharf, the City, Stratford, Lewisham and Woolwich. Whereas very light rail uses batteries, the DLR gets its power from a bottom-contact third rail system underneath the train. Self-driving vehicles are expected to be on the UK roads by 2026, the government has said, opening the door for more autonomous rail systems. More Trending The Coventry very light rail has been developed to allow autonomous operation in the future. Pedestrians, cyclists and disabled passengers will have 'sufficient provision' on the new routes when they open, the council confirmed. A version of this article was first published on May 7, 2025 Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Inside the new £2,500,000,000 Leeds tram system with airport connection MORE: Donald Trump's travel ban doesn't make sense – here's why MORE: Double decker bus roof ripped off after crashing into railway bridge in South Norwood
NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
'No plans' for a Trump-Musk call to tamp down their feud, White House chief of staff says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will not be calling billionaire Elon Musk on Friday after their feud exploded into public, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. 'There are no plans for that today," Wiles told NBC News when asked about reporting by Politico that White House aides scheduled a call Friday with the billionaire Tesla CEO to try to patch things up between the two men. Trump is "not interested" in a call, a senior White House official told NBC News. White House press secretary said Trump is focused on the "One Big Beautiful Bill," the GOP domestic policy bill that Musk trashed, which triggered their falling out. "That's the mindset he left the Oval Office in yesterday," Leavitt said. A Trump administration official added, 'There could be anything — I'd like to de-escalate a very unfortunate situation. But there are no calls on the books, at least not now.' The spat began Thursday when Trump criticized Musk's recent attacks on the Republican policy measure over its estimated increase to the deficit, and turned into a full-scale blow-up that sent ripples through the halls of Congress and Tesla's stock prices. 'I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. 'I'm very disappointed in Elon," Trump said. "I've helped Elon a lot.' Trump suggested that Musk, who earlier this week called the GOP bill a 'disgusting abomination,' was upset that the bill cut out a tax credit implemented by the Biden administration to incentivize electric vehicle purchases. Musk denied he was knowledgeable about the legislation. "False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!" Musk wrote in a post to X. The two men spent the rest of the day Thursday lobbing insults at each other on their own social media platforms — Musk on X and Trump on Truth Social.
