£30 million new 'logistics hub' helps safeguard long-term future of one of Somerset's biggest employers

Leonardo today unveiled the new facility, which merges eight warehouses into one

The site, which was known as Westlands, has now seen a huge transformation
Author: Andrew KayPublished 18th Sep 2024
Last updated 18th Sep 2024

A £30 million development at Yeovil's Leonardo site has reached a crucial stage - which bosses say shows their commitment to the local area.

Bosses at the helicopter-maker say the 'single-site logistics hub will help support Leonardo Helicopters’ global fleet through the warehousing of components and tooling in this state-of-the-art facility, which is now coming to fruition'.

They say: "The project sees the consolidation of eight existing warehouses into one all-encompassing logistics hub."

The helicopter-maker is often in the news as it bids for defence contracts in order to protect jobs and the site's long-term future.

Charlea Boucher, Project Officer at Leonardo Helicopters UK, cemented her hands into the ground of the Single-Site Logistics Hub as a 'symbol of the forward-looking Hub securing the future of logistics on-site in Yeovil'.

Charlea, a fourth-generation employee at Leonardo, is a business graduate of 2022 and a project officer working on the AW149 New Medium Helicopter campaign programme.

She said: "It has been amazing to see the rise of the Single-Site Logistics Hub during the final year of my business graduate placement at Leonardo in Yeovil.

"My great-grandparents worked on-site a few generations ago in engineering, so it’s great that this investment in the site is future proofing Yeovil for years to come as I embark on the next stages of my career here at Leonardo.

So far, 61,000 tonnes of demolition material has been moved with 25,000 cubic metres of material re-utilised into the new building. More than 15,000 cubic metres of earth have been moved with a total expectation of reaching 25,000 cubic metres.

The brand new Hub will be equipped with rainwater harvesting tanks for brown water services – this means that water is recycled for use throughout the building in a non-drinking capacity.

The Hub will employ LED lighting throughout the facility and a heat recovery system that will be used in the main warehouse to complement the modern office temperature control system.

A bank of electric vehicle charging points will be installed to support Leonardo’s employee Green Travel plan as well as servicing a brand new fleet of electric commercial vehicles that will distribute components from the Hub to the company’s manufacturing facilities.

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