PD Ports Group Scoops Prestigious Asda Supplier Award

March 15, 2012 - PRLog -- The PD Ports Group is proud to announce it has scooped yet another supplier award from one of the UK’s major retailers - ASDA - this year walking away with the overall prize for Carrier of the Year 2012.

It is the third consecutive year that the PD Ports Group, which includes PD Logistics, has picked up an ASDA Carrier award but the first time it has received the overall prize.  The award is not open for entries but is given by ASDA to the most outstanding supplier in the retailer’s supply chain based on performance and excellence in service.

ASDA launched the awards three years ago to help it continue to raise standards amongst its logistics suppliers.

Alex Linton, Senior Supply Chain Manager, Global Logistics, ASDA, said: “The award is well deserved by the whole team at PD Ports. It is to recognise the effort that the whole team puts in to supporting our business. They really demonstrate a partnership approach, delivering solutions when we need them.

“Please pass on my thanks to all those in the business that work with the ASDA team day in day out - it really is appreciated.”

The award was presented by ASDA’s Supply Chain Director, Gavin Chappell.

PD Ports’ Key Accounts Manager, Kim Catterick, who picked up the award at the Queens Hotel in Leeds on Friday 9 March, said: “This is such an outstanding honour.

“All the other prizes handed out at the ceremony were based on written submissions but to be recognised by ASDA for our performance throughout the year without having to put together an entry is an even greater distinction.

“We pride ourselves on the wide range of services that PD Ports supply to ASDA, from our container terminal at Teesport, Logical Link - the shipping service we provide between Felixstowe and Teesport, and our logistics services, right through to our portcentric business model.”

In awarding the prize to the PD Ports Group, ASDA had taken into consideration the fact that its Teesport terminal had undergone a major upgrade and capacity increase programme last year but despite this, the retailer had not been subjected to any service failures or disruptions.

It was also impressed by the cross docking/re-working services offered at the Group’s warehouse facilities in Billingham and Felixstowe, the exemplary shunting service between the port and the ASDA warehouse at Teesport, and the excellent road haulage services.

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About PD Ports
•   PD Ports Limited is owned by Canadian based Brookfield.  Brookfield is a global asset manager focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets, with over $100 billion of assets under management.  PD Ports was bought by Brookfield in November 2009.
•   PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of supply chain services to improve customers’ international product and material movements into and out of – as well as within – the UK.
•   PD Ports employs over 1200 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of over £115 million from many UK locations.
•   PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics centres.      
•   The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:
o   Port Operations– is split into two business streams – bulks and unitised and includes:
   Teesport: one of the top 4 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk traffics and finished cars, handling almost 40 million tonnes of throughput p.a.
   Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service offerings include ships’ agency, chartering and stevedoring services.
   Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing, recycling and distribution services at UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at Felixstowe.  
Development plans for port operations include:
•   Portcentric Logistics: a concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands.  
In 2006 ASDA WalMart opened a 360,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 8 million road miles by adopting the portcentric concept.  Adjacent to the ASDA facility, Tesco operates a purpose built 1.2 million sq ft import centre at Teesport, which opened in 2009. Tea and coffee specialists Taylors of Harrogate opened a purpose built warehouse facility at Teesport Commerce Park on the periphery of Teesport in 2010 to handle its UK imports.
o   Conservancy – this includes:
   Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.  
o   Property– this includes:
   Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used by third party clients on long term leases.
   Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and offers potential for development.
   Port land at Hartlepool docks, which is highly attractive to the growing renewable energy sector, including offshore, windfarms, and biomass plants.  PD Ports’ long term strategy is to further develop Hartlepool docks as a centre of excellence for the offshore support sector
   


For further information, please contact:
PD Ports
Kirsten Potter
PR and Communications Manager
PD Ports
Kirsten.potter@pdports.co.uk

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